Regional Road Safety Education Plan - PRER

PRER (Plano Regional de EducaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria - Regional Road Safety Education Plan) goals were set considering that main indicators consider road accidents to be a serious public health problem, a catastrophe. The expressive numbers relating to road accidents do not choose age, gender, or social status of the individuals involved. The partnerships established and the invaluable support of different organizations are justified, on the one hand, by the mission of each one of them and, on the other, because road safety must be a priority for all. Since its creation in 2007/2008, the PRER goals have been to reduce road accidents, their consequences, and costs, as well as to increase a more sustainable mobility, building a true road safety culture. PRER has several different actions and measures which depend on the nature and age of the participants. They mainly involve children in pre-school education, students from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cycles of Basic Education and Secondary Education in schools (public and private) in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (RAM). In the school year of 2020/2021, there was a coverage rate of around 50% (74), with a slight reduction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, involving practically â…“ of the student population (15 thousand children and students). PRER also involves teachers and other school staff, as well as parents and guardians, and the surrounding civil community. In short, PRER seeks to involve the entire island (RAM) in which it is applied.

Project activities

If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.

PRER is a strategic instrument that is now in its 15th consecutive edition. Naturally, in every edition, there are partnerships and sponsors that do not remain and others that are established for the first time. It must be highlighted the permanent partnership with the Madeira Regional Command of the Public Security Police. Considering their interest in the project, they enable its execution by participating in it with monitoring, training and awareness actions as well as providing didactic and pedagogical resources. There are and there were other partnerships with: AssociaÃ§Ã£o de Ciclismo da Madeira (Madeira Cycling Association); EducaÃ§Ã£o para a SeguranÃ§a e PrevenÃ§Ã£o de Riscos (Education for Safety and Risk Prevention, which is a project under the direct coordination of the Office of the Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Technology); SonhoR - Rally Team (DreamR-Rally Team - direct participation in initiatives aimed at children and students, considering a logic of user education. In addition to these, we also highlight the Autoridade Nacional de SeguranÃ§a RodoviÃ¡ria (National Road Safety Authority); several Driving Schools; PrevenÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria Portuguesa (Portuguese Road Safety Prevention); Viaexpresso - VIAEXPRESSO Roads Dealership in Madeira, which promoted training activities for teachers applying PRER. PRER has benefited and benefits from a diverse number of sponsors that guarantee the necessary organizational resources, such as: HorÃ¡rios do Funchal (a bus company for urban transport, which operates in the city of Funchal) that provides transport of children and students, facilities and prizes for activities; Rodoeste (bus company for suburban transport, which operates mainly in the western part of RAM) by participating in training activities for PRER teachers; City Councils with the transport of children and students as well as offering prizes for activities; and also various entities of RAM's private business sector, namely MZbike (a motorcycle, bicycle and accessories trade store) - with a decisive role in the repair of used bicycles in several initiatives, as well as offering prizes for different activities; Aquaparque Madeira (water amusement park); Fnac Madeira; Madeira Shopping; NP Publicidade (an advertising business); among others.

Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.

Throughout the significant lifetime of this project, there are actions and measures that remain since the first edition, considering the success achieved and there are others that after being tested during at least two successive editions will be suppressed, because of the number of participants, the enthusiasm, the results were or are not as expected or due to the constraints raised by the current Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, over the last 14 years dozens and dozens of actions and measures have been put into practice, but due to the high volume they represent, it seems more appropriate, in this case, to list only the actions and measures that are or will be taken in the during the current school year that began on 1st September 2021. Here they are: A - ACTIONS/MEASURES DEVELOPED BY DRE: 1. Semana Europeia da Mobilidade 2021 (European Mobility Week2021), 16th to 22nd September; (2) Dia Europeu Sem Mortos na Estrada (European Day Without a Road Death) 21st September; (3) Dia Europeu Sem Carros (European Car Free Day) 22nd September: in commemoration of these events, original and other resources are disseminated (Portuguese version of the campaign's promotional film, local campaign poster; local activities programme, etc.), promoting the use of active modes of transport, especially walking and cycling safely, instead of using a private car, in a strategy to fight physical inactivity, protect the environment and save capital, also raising awareness for the realization of a day in the European roads without road deaths; (4) Encontro de Abertura do PRER e AÃ§Ã£o de FormaÃ§Ã£o "EducaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria - Atividades em Meio Escolar" (PRER Opening Meeting and in-service teacher training sessions "Road Safety Education - Activities in School Environment" â€“ 13th and 14th October: detailed presentation of the action plan(s) outlined for the XV PRER Edition , and sharing of good practices in road safety education; (5) Dia Mundial em MemÃ³ria das VÃtimas da Estrada (World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims): presentation and reading of a road safety story in a school which will be repeated in the other schools, using a film, throughout the month of November; (6) "Presentes, todos. Acidentes, nenhuns" (Presents, everyone. Accidents, none) â€“ 15th December: non-repressive stop operation, for counseling and distribution of awareness information, involving children and students, as well as public figures from RAM; (7) Dia Mundial do TrÃ¢nsito e da Cortesia ao Volante (World Day for Traffic and Courtesy Driving)â€“ 5th May: Webinar on road safety education; (8) Dia Europeu da SeguranÃ§a RodoviÃ¡ria (European Road Safety Day) â€“ 9th May: photo gallery of safe behaviour on the road. B - ACTIONS/MEASURES DEVELOPED BY EDUCATION/TEACHING ESTABLISHMENTS/SCHOOLS AND COORDINATED BY DRE: (9) Aula de TrÃ¢nsito Real (Real Traffic Class) - 15th October to 9th June: walk or transport tour, in the area surrounding the school, to assess the knowledge of children and students regarding traffic signs and rules; (10) A Minha Carta de ConduÃ§Ã£o (My Drivers License) - 15th October to 9th June: acquisition of knowledge of the rights and duties of a Driver's License holder; (11) "Cem" ComentÃ¡rios no TrÃ¢nsito "One Hundred"No Comments on Traffic â€“ 15th October to 25th March: registration and exhibition of photographs of (in)appropriate situations, commented or not, carried out in a road environment, by the users themselves; (12) Civismo e CirculaÃ§Ã£o Defensiva na Estrada (Civics and Defensive Traffic on the Road) â€“ 2nd November to 9th June: survey on the habits of parents and guardians regarding the quality of road users; data treatment, analysis and dissemination; (13) ConstruÃ§Ã£o do TrofÃ©u da TaÃ§a Escolar de EducaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria (Construction of the Road Safety Education School Cup Trophy) â€“ 15th October to 21st January: construction of a trophy, through the recycling and/or reuse of material resources; (14) Escolinha de TrÃ¢nsito (Beginners Traffic School) - 15th October to 9th June: circulation on a protected road safety education lane, with vehicles suitable for the age of the participants (up to 6 years olds); (15) Hora do Conto com o Luzinhas (Story time with "Luzinhas") â€“ 2nd December, 1st February and 11th May: release of a video with the reading of stories (original and unpublished) in the concerning road safety; (16) Passatempos Seguros (Road Safety Worksheets) â€“ 11th November, 11th January, 11th March and 11th May: worksheets with games related to promote road safety; (17) Prova de OrientaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria (Road Safety Orienteering Competition) â€“ 15th October to 25th March: walked route, drawn on a map and with assessment of students' knowledge at checkpoints, related to traffic signs and rules; (18) Rally Vai Ã Escola (Rally Goes To School) - according to the calendar of the Madeira Rally and Ramps Championship, still unknown: presenting the motor sport in RAM, as well as the necessary information on the safety of vehicles, drivers and spectators; (19) Spots de VÃdeo de SeguranÃ§a RodoviÃ¡ria (Road Safety Video Spots) â€“ 15th October to 5th May: creation and edition of videos concerning road safety; (20) TaÃ§a Escolar de EducaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria (Road Safety Education School Cup) â€“ 2nd November to 25th March: assessment of knowledge (Test) and skills of students on bicycle driving, in simulated conditions of the road environment (protected lane).

List the actions you carried/are carrying out

Date

Tuesday, 31 May, 2022

Evaluation

What has been the effect of the activities?

Any instrument of public policy on road safety and PRER is no exception to that, seeks to ensure that the road as a common space for the circulation of the most varied users, is increasingly safe and that the main indicators of road accidents (accidents with victims, fatalities, severely injured and lightly injured) have less and less expression. In fact, the provisional results on road accidents, from January to June 2021 in mainland Portugal and in the Autonomous Regions, which are based on data provided by the proper entities (GNR â€“ Guarda Nacional Republican â€“ National Republican Guard and PSP â€“ PolÃcia de SeguranÃ§a PÃºblica - Public Security Police) and that are based as well on the criterion of victims at 24 hours, when compared with the average of the same six months of the previous 5 years (2016 to 2020), it appears that there were reductions in the totals of all the main metrics, despite the evolution compared to the previous year; results that are related to the application of the Covid-19 prevention and mitigation measures, especially those that resulted in the inhibition of the circulation of people and vehicles. Evidently, most actions and measures have had a very significant effect on the public involved, when the participating institutions and individuals are accounted for, through periodic reports. The impact on the road, in a protected environment, particularly in the Escolinha de TrÃ¢nsito (Beginners Traffic School), TaÃ§a Escolar de EducaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria (Road Safety Education School Cup) and in Prova de OrientaÃ§Ã£o RodoviÃ¡ria (Road Safety Orienteering Competition), has been quite positive, considering the results obtained through the application of tests to assess knowledge and skills as pedestrians and cyclists; inspected several times by the Public Security Police. The impact on the road, in an unprotected environment, has not occurred with the desired frequency, because it involves resources that are not always possible to mobilize. Even so, the daytime, direct, non-participant and sequential observation of the behaviour of pedestrians and conductors at pedestrian crossings, allowed us to conclude that drivers are safer and more prudent than pedestrians on "crosswalks", leading to the improvement of actions, involving pedestrians, to promote a more significant positive effect on the road.

Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.

PRER has had from the start a strong commitment with education, towards a culture of road safety, especially among children and students from an early age, believing in a catalytic effect on their families, as well as, considering the significant involvement of several areas of the educational community. In addition to children and students, there is the targeted audience indicated in question number 13. It has been shown to be decisive for the improvement of road safety, the development of pleasant, meaningful, and pedagogically oriented activities for children and students. These activities allow children and students to identify, learn about and adopt behaviours that are adequate to move and cross as pedestrians; also to identify, know and adopt appropriate behaviours as a passenger; to identify appropriate and inappropriate behaviours; to adopt safe behaviours as drivers and critically analyzing the road environment and adopting appropriate social and civic attitudes and behaviours. PRER educates children and students for life, providing conditions that allow them to face and solve problems on a daily basis, which implies analyzing situations, identifying problems, developing strategies and taking appropriate decisions. Also, the promotion of actions and measures involving parents and guardians, through the study of their daily habits, as passengers, pedestrians, and drivers, leading them to make a perception about their behaviours and attitudes, has allowed us to identify areas of priority intervention, with a view to improving road safety. On the other hand, the involvement of the civil community in the celebration of events such as the Semana Europeia da Mobilidade (European Mobility Week), Dia Europeu Sem Mortos na Estrada (European Day Without a Road Death), Dia Europeu Sem Carros (European Car Free Day), Dia Mundial do TrÃ¢nsito e da Cortesia ao Volante (World Day for Traffic and Courtesy Driving), Dia Europeu da SeguranÃ§a RodoviÃ¡ria (European Road Safety Day), OperaÃ§Ãµes Auto-stop NÃ£o Repressivas (Non-Repressive Auto-stop Operations), with the sponsorship of public figures from RAM associated with journalism and motorized and non-motorized sports, etc. and the carrying out and dissemination of studies on the behaviour of pedestrians and drivers at pedestrian crossings, has made a remarkable contribution to improving road safety and to a more sustainable mobility. Through the dissemination of information and awareness resources, or the exhibition of photographs of appropriate behaviours and attitudes in a road environment and others comprising various types of administrative offences, in addition to the exhibition of vehicles involved in accidents, accompanied by the history of the respective accidents (causes of accidents, existence of victims, etc.).

How have you shared information about your project and its results?

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Regional Road Safety Education Plan - PRER