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| Introduction.
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This section... very briefly outlines some issues which might arise once a Government had decided
to introduced such a system. |
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Having gone to a great deal of effort... to gather huge quantities of Information
it would then have to be put to good use. Data should be carefully
examined and used as a means of Monitoring: Refining: and Improving: the system over an extended period of
time [even after completing a
3-6 month trial period.] As with any system... it could be done well... or it could be done
badly... you cannot simply say that such a system will work... or detail how
effective it might be... it is something which must be made to work.
It
would require a fairly modest commitment in terms of Time: and Money: but a huge
commitment in terms of personal Effort... by a large number of Individuals.
Only if you engage a significant number of people in a pro-active way can you
fundamentally change the Road Culture of a country... but that is the
requirement! |
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Road Supervisors. |
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| Recruiting 'enough' Road Supervisors. How many is enough? This system could be launched with just 1
or 2% of drivers participating... each one being very pro-active and making 10 to 20 reports per
week... but
as this system seeks to empower as many drivers as possible... targets
of 5 to 10% might be aimed for. In the event that the system became
very popular and a larger percentage of drivers were applying to become Road
Supervisors, the system could easily be adjusted to accommodate them
all... simply
by reducing the number of reports that each one could make. Adequate
numbers would also need to be recruited as Senior Road Supervisors... and to sit
on Review Panels.
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| Reports.
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| The first question might
be... how many penalty points should there be for each
driver on the road? In time it might [for example] be decided that 10
points for each driver was achieving the desired affect. If 5% of
drivers had been recruited as Road Supervisors then each one would be allowed to
make up to 200 reports each year: [or 50 per quarter.] If that figure
gradually rose to 10% then drivers would be entitled to make up to 100 reports
each year: [or 25 per quarter.] As circumstances would inevitably change
this figure could be reviewed on a quarterly basis and announced on the Website: i.e. 'The number of Road Supervisor reports allowed for the following quarter
has been reduced from 29 to 27'.
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In a Country... with 20 million drivers it could mean processing about 200 million
individual reports... every report would detail at least one offence and many
might detail 3. 4. 5? different offences. If the average was between 2 and
3 this would mean gathering, something in the region of 500 million separate
pieces of Information about every kind of offence... and this could easily be 500 times greater than
exists at present. Each report would also contain many other small
'Bits' of Information about... Time: Location: Traffic: Weather: etc. which could
be compiled to produce 'Data'... and analysed to help identify any 'reporting
black spots'. Information Technology is not just about collecting
huge amounts of Information... it's also about having access to
Information...
it's about the quality of the Information... and it's about presenting that
Information in a way which is easy to understand.
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| As
an example... When we want to find our way through a City
the Information we require is available. We can find it in a
street directory... on signposts... and street names... so, we drive
through busy streets looking at the map whenever we can... look at the
road... look for signs... look at the road again... look for street
names...
and when that doesn't work we may have to stop and ask someone... get
the 'Information' from them... for some drivers this is all very
difficult and stressful. With 'Information Technology' you are offered something totally
different. You just tell the system the address you want to go
to and Satelite Navigation directs you right to the door. A
computerized voice just says... 'Turn
right 200 metres. Turn right 100 metres. Turn right 50
metres. Turn right Now'!
Annoying? Maybe! but easier to understand?
definitely! |
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Monitoring the System.
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| There are many different aspects to a system such as this and they would
all need to be Examined: Refined: and Improved: over an extended period of
time. This would include the computerised system itself... does the software
need refining? [Yes!!] can the website be accessed properly? what is the quality of the Information going in?
what is the quality going out?
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With this scheme... there would by many questions. Is the training of Road
Supervisors good enough? are drivers responding to educational inserts? is pressure being
applied... on employers? and through employers?
how effective are Review Panels? are Police 'Intercepting' serious
offenders reported by mobile? what is the success rate... or failure rate
with every strategy? etc. etc. etc.
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Many of these results... could be published on the Internet... as a way of improving
a driver's understanding of important issues... which offences contributed to
accidents? which were the most common offences reported in the last
quarter? and notification of any offences Road Supervisors had been asked
to 'targeted' in the following quarter: [this would also give drivers the
opportunity to avoid being reported in the future] and for their own
Information... detailed 'Statistics' about [Who?] which demographic 'groups' were
reported: [What?] total number of every offence reported: [When?] peak times
for reports: and [Where?] any 'reporting black spots', etc. etc.
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Continuous Pressure.
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| A gradual raising of standards right across the
board... over a
extended period
of time... could only be achieved if the system was 'permanent'. [Having something like a 'Media blitz' over
the Christmas period.. however expensive... and however graphic the images... has a
very limited 'shelf life'.] Standards would slowly rise because the majority of
penalty points would always go
to that few percent of drivers who were the most serious and persistent
offenders. Drivers would have many opportunities to change their ways
voluntarily...
before they found themselves coming under the control of a 'Review Panel'.
Once there, drivers would have two options... make changes and improvements and see their
points go down... or fail to make improvements... see their points go up... and be
removed from the road. Either way... there should be plenty of new 'vacancies'
coming up, down in
the worst group! |
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If these drivers were not being reported... then some other drivers would
be... but
for
slightly less serious offences. There would always be a certain amount of drivers
dropping down into this group who would then find themselves in the same
position... correct their bad habits... change: improve: or lose their
licence... and
this would have the effect of pushing up the overall standard of driving. |
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| We believe...
the
vast majority of drivers could improve... and would improve... when faced with this
option... after all, adapting to changing circumstances is such a basic
requirement of driving that if a person cannot change it is hard to imagine how
they could drive at all.
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Target Groups.
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| Apart from
individuals... there are distinctive demographic groups who are more likely than average to
become involved in an accident. Different strategies could be developed so
as to rectify the specific problems of each
group. These groups would include: for example... Young: Inexperience:
[and particularly male]
drivers: who are 5 to 10 times more likely to have an accident than an
'experienced' driver. 'Elderly' drivers who's Eyesight: Reactions: and
Judgement: have started to deteriorate... those driving 'company'
Vehicles... and those that have problems with
Substance Abuse.
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| Within each group...
change could be brought about by
developing Strategies in the area of Motivation: Deterrents: Targeted Education: Social Pressure:
Enforcement: and as a last resort... Punishment.
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If every detail on a Report... was given a different code number then it should
also be possible to 'retrieve' these individual 'Bits' of Information in many different ways to help
identify larger scale problems. These might be 'Geographical' i.e.
problems associated with a particular Junction: stretch of Road: Suburb: City
Centre: etc. 'Commercial' i.e. problems associated with a particular... Employer:
Industry: Shopping Centre: Sporting Venue: Entertainment Complex: etc.
or any other 'concentration' of Reports: be they to do with... time of Day:
Public Holidays: adverse Weather Conditions: or any combination of
groups. If any such 'grouping' was identified... it might indicate there was
some other Root Cause: Contributing Factors: or deep-seated problem associated
with the general Road Culture... and not be totally
the fault of the individual driver who had been reported.
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| Basically... you gather
Information... you produce Data... and then you use the various
systems to convert it into Knowledge.
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