Transport Scotland has announced that 11 innovative projects, designed to make the country’s roads safer, are to receive funding worth more than £865,000 from the Scottish Government.

The awards from Transport Scotland’s Road Safety Framework Fund will support projects focused on reducing road deaths and serious injuries, helping deliver Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030.

Funded initiatives include:

• Immersive virtual reality road safety education for young people
• Programmes to improve safety for people who drive for work
• Creative arts-based engagement with young road users
• Research into how safer street design can help prevent deaths and serious injuries

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport Stephen Flynn said:

“Improving road safety is about more than infrastructure alone. It’s about understanding the behaviours, risks and challenges people face every day on our roads, and finding effective ways to address them.

“These projects demonstrate the expertise and commitment that exists across Scotland. From improving safety for people who drive for work to supporting safer active travel, each initiative has the potential to save lives and prevent serious injuries.

“The Road Safety Framework Fund supports new ideas, strengthens partnerships and builds the evidence needed to deliver lasting improvements. These projects will help us move closer to our long-term vision of a Scotland where nobody is killed or seriously injured on our roads.”

Projects receiving funding this year are:

• Living Streets (£84,458) – researching how safer street design can improve safety for people walking and wheeling.
• Marc Brew Company (£47,536) – delivering workshops, film-making projects and digital content to help young people understand the consequences of unsafe road use.
• Perth & Kinross Council and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (£64,480) – supporting safe travel to school through road safety education, skills training and pupil-led initiatives.
• Scottish Borders Council (£75,336) – providing training, events and awareness campaigns aimed at young drivers and motorcyclists.
• Diabetes Safety Organisation (£45,082) – helping ensure the risks associated with diabetes are better considered in road safety programmes and guidance.
• Diabetes Safety Organisation (£62,838) – developing and delivering diabetes safety training for local authority employees across Scotland.
• RoSPA – Gig Economy Project (£56,946) – exploring how to reduce road safety risks faced by gig economy workers and people who drive for work.
• RoSPA – Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (£150,000) – delivering Scotland’s national programme to improve safety for people who drive or ride for work.
• PACTS (£85,000) – exploring how insurance and telematics technology can encourage safer driving among young motorists.
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (£139,901) – using immersive virtual reality technology to improve road safety awareness and hazard perception among young people.
• Ayrshire Roads Alliance and Cycling Scotland (£53,720) – creating an online training programme to promote safer driving and greater awareness of vulnerable road users among employees who drive for work.

(Picture; Transport Scotland)