The Safer Cycling Advocate Program (SCAP) seeks to empower civil society organizations by building their capacity to advocate for safer roads and to promote cycling as a transport mode. Road crashes are estimated to kill around 1.3 million people every year and are the leading cause of death among children and young people aged between 5 and 29 years. The SCAP project is working in three countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia) to support cycling advocacy, with the specific goal of improving cycling safety.
Safety concerns are commonly given as one of the biggest reasons people don’t cycle; fear is a powerful motivator after all, and feeling safe on your bike is a necessity for wanting to cycle. SCAP aims to address this feeling and get more people on their bikes. The project will run advocacy campaigns to improve national/local legislation in these countries as well as train grassroots activists using a series of ‘train the trainer’ workshops.
When there is a shift towards cycling on a larger scale, safety trends improve considerably. Road Safety measures should seek to increase cycling and other sustainable modes of transport. By combining the Safety in Numbers effect, a true public health based approach to road safety and efforts to help cyclists feel safe and comfortable whilst riding, authorities can make their cities safer, cleaner and greener.
Our thanks to FedEx Express Europe for providing funding for this project.
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Road user behaviour
Policy can influence how people behave and good policy adapts to peoples behaviour.
Infrastructure
Good infrastructure makes cycling comfortable and appealing; building smartly saves lives and money.
Safe vehicles
New technology, top quality maintenance and common sense regulation makes vehicles safer.
Management
Good data and strong stakeholder cooperation are essential to reducing risk on our roads.