Drive SMART

The Drive SMART campaign is a partnership initiative involving Surrey County Council and Surrey Police which tackles anti-social driving in Surrey – with the aim of reducing road casualties and making the county’s roads safer and less stressful for everyone.

It was one of the first initiatives by Dr Andrew Povey, the newly-elected Leader of Surrey County Council, who pledged £1m to set up the campaign after the issue was regularly identified as a concern by residents.

Drive SMART was launched with three main aims:
• Increased confidence of the public in Surrey Police and partners to tackle anti-social driving and speeding in the county.
• A reduction in the level of vehicle-related anti-social behaviour identified by respondents in the Joint Neighbourhood Survey.
• A reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured as a result of road traffic collisions.

Funding has been used for a diverse range of activities. From launch in September 2009 to mid-June 2010, more than 16,400 hours of police officer, civilian and volunteer time had been used on the scheme and 34,336 police interventions had been recorded.

The initiative has included:
• Regular REED events (Roadside Education and Enforcement Days) in all 11 districts, where drivers are pulled over and, where appropriate, offered road safety advice rather than a penalty.
• Hard-hitting communications campaigns targeting speeding (SMART Speed), motorcyclists (Ride SMART), drivers using hand-held mobile phones (Talk SMART) and bad parking (Park SMART). Campaigns have included road show events, bus back, billboard and radio advertising, the production of a viral film and the use of social media such as Facebook, Google and MSN.
• Backing for other anti-social driving initiatives run by the Surrey Road Safety Partnership including summer and Christmas drink drive campaigns.
• A dedicated web site ( www.drivesmartsurrey.org.uk) with news, campaign resources and an interactive ‘test your driving skills’ game.
• The launch of ‘Road Sense – your life, your responsibility’, by Lewis Hamilton – a pilot scheme, developed in co-operation with the Mercedes Benz Driving Academy, which will give 5,000 local pupils aged 14-18 the opportunity to learn about road safety from a driver, passenger and pedestrian perspective.
• The setting up of 27 School Speed Watch schemes and an additional 22 Community Speed Watch schemes, with others in the pipeline.
• Funding to allow the establishment of speed awareness courses for low-end speeding offenders.
• More than 15,000 students at more than 70 schools across Surrey targeted via Theatre in Education workshops – tailor-made drama performances providing students with strategies to keep themselves safe, and methods for positively influencing other road users and drivers.
• The purchase of a Drive SMART-branded Smart car for public events and operational activities.
• An updated Driver Alert scheme whereby police officers use manuals to graphically illustrate the consequences of poor driving to motorists pulled over.
• The drawing up of ‘problem profiles’ for neighbourhoods, to allow the tackling of anti-social driving issues raised by residents.

Evaluation is ongoing, but all six questions relating to anti-social driving in the Surrey Police joint neighbourhood surveys have shown improved results including:

Percentage of people confident that anti-social driving is being dealt with by Surrey Police and Surrey County Council:
• 65.8% pre-Drive SMART launch in September 2009
• 67.2% in March 2010

Percentage of people satisfied that controlling speeding traffic is being dealt with:
• 56.4% pre-Drive SMART launch in September 2009
• 58.2% in March 2010

Percentage of people who said that speeding motorists and anti social driving is a problem in their neighbourhood:
• 46.9% pre-Drive SMART launch in September 2009
• 42% in March 2010