Traffic safety culture in three countries – example of a new conceptual analysis

In the course of the project ‘TraSaCu’, which received funding from EU’s Horizon 2020 MSC-RISE programme, various aspects of applying the construct of safety culture to road safety have been scrutinized. One aim was to sound out the potential of using an analytic framework derived from aviation safety to assess and compare traffic safety cultures in three countries. Four dimensions – political concern, social control, realistic and adequate information as well as situational awareness and perception – were used to describe and compare Albania, Austria and the state of Virginia (USA). Quantitative data (historic, societal, road safety indicators etc.) was complemented with qualitative data from interviews with local practitioners, researchers as well as governmental and administrative authorities involved in road safety. As the case of Albania, with its short history of motorization, shows, this approach is especially suitable to contrast cultures with very different levels of safety. Furthermore, qualitative analysis demonstrates the importance of considerations beyond mere numbers to address road safety.