Road Safety Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Webinar series

About the Course

This interactive webinar series aims to build road safety research capacity for practitioners in low- and middle-income countries.

The series will be led by international experts and lecturers from TNO Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Lund University (Sweden), VTI Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, and KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis.

It is aimed at:

researchers from academia (not limited to early career researchers)
those involved in scientific research at private companies, NGOs, ministries, road authorities, etc.
engineers and traffic psychologists focusing on road safety methodologies.

Course details

This course has now closed.

Structure

The series has been designed to be as interactive as possible. Each session will start with a lecture and discussion around the topic of the day followed by a workshop in which participants will deliver a four-minute presentation that they have prepared in advance – except for the first session. To ensure an active discussion, the number of participants for the series will be limited to 24.

Six participants will present at each workshop. They will have the opportunity to choose which workshop they contribute to in the first session.

Participants that attend all sessions and complete homework assignments will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Session 1

Session 1 will cover:

The link between road safety policy making and research.

Crash contributing factors, problems with crash registration, alternative data source.

Session 2

Session 2 will cover:

Experiences with crash data collection in LMICs.

Safety related traffic data (subjective vs. objective methods, video-based, conflict observation, interviews, performance indicators).

Practical aspects of safety related traffic data collection (behavioral observations, Swedish Traffic Conflict technique, case study)

Session 3

Session 3 will cover:

Experiences with safety related traffic data collection in LMICs.

Road safety principles and countermeasures.

Evaluation of countermeasures.

Session 4

Session 4 will cover:

Experiences with countermeasure selection and evaluation in LMICs.

Case study from Bangladesh (from data collection, through evaluation, to countermeasures).

Verifying road safety measures and communicating them to decision makers.

Session 5

Session 5 will cover:

Communicating research results to policy makers in LMICs.

Human behavioral models.

How to institutionalize road safety research in LMICs?

Approach

Evidence based

We use methodologies and materials that are evidence-based and scientifically sound – supporting a holistic approach to data collection, problem analysis, research and innovation, monitoring and evaluation.

Leading experts

Our courses are delivered by world leading researchers and professionals with experience of working in and with low and middle income countries to improve road safety and sustainable mobility.

Peer learning

Our learning environment encourages students to exchange knowledge and share experiences. This helps in identifying creative, locally relevant solutions to common challenges and issues.

Tailored for LMICs

We base our learning on the Safe System Approach and how this can be tailored and adapted to local contexts, with a focus on the specific challenges faced by low and middle income countries.

Train the trainer

We support local development and the governance of road safety management by developing capacity amongst practitioners and professionals who will return home and share their learning with others.

What will you learn?

After completing this series participants will:

Understand human behavioral models and research methods related to road safety
Link the results of observational studies to the development of evidence-based road safety measures
Apply scientific and practical knowledge to implement evidence-based road safety measures
Use scientific and practical knowledge to assist in setting up local road safety research centers
Tailor safe system approaches to local conditions and learn from successful case studies in LMICs

Lecturers and Trainers

Course leadership

Lecturers

“During the webinars, we found that identifying a safety problem in LMICs can be done easily, since they are facing many. Selecting the right research method from the toolbox the lecturers provided is, however, not always straightforward. An even more problematic issue is finding the right policy makers to ensure that research results are then used in practice."

“An important takeaway was that more attention needs to be given to the relationship between research and its impact on policy making, as well as giving practitioners the skills in conducting research."

"A number of participants highlighted the fact that law enforcement and political involvement can be two extremely sensitive areas in some LMICs. More best practice case studies and research tools that can be directly applied in LMICs would therefore be useful to develop the course further in the future.”

Reflections on the Course

Course Leader Dr Attila Borsos gives his thoughts.