The Safe System approach aims to eliminate fatal & serious injuries for all road users. It does so through a holistic view of the road system that first anticipates human mistakes and second keeps impact energy on the human body at tolerable levels. Safety is an ethical imperative of the designers and owners of the transportation system. Here’s what you need to know to bring the Safe System approach to your community.
Reaching zero deaths requires the implementation of a Safe System approach, which was founded on the principles that humans make mistakes and that human bodies have limited ability to tolerate crash impacts. In a Safe System, those mistakes should never lead to death. Applying the Safe System approach involves anticipating human mistakes by designing and managing road infrastructure to keep the risk of a mistake low; and when a mistake leads to a crash, the impact on the human body doesn’t result in a fatality or serious injury. Road design and management should encourage safe speeds and manipulate appropriate crash angles to reduce injury severity.
There are six principles that form the basis of the Safe System approach: deaths and injuries are unacceptable, humans make mistakes, humans are vulnerable, responsibility is shared, safety is proactive, and redundancy is crucial.
Making a commitment to zero traffic deaths means addressing all aspects of safety through the following five Safe System elements that, together, create a holistic approach with layers of protection for road users: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads, and post-crash care.
The Safe System approach requires a supporting safety culture that places safety first and foremost in road system investment decisions. To achieve our zero deaths vision, everyone must accept that fatalities and serious injuries are unacceptable and preventable.
Learn more about Safe System from the following materials:FHWA – Safe System Approach flyer and Safe System Approach presentation
Safety Compass Article – Safe System–An Approach Toward Zero Traffic Deaths
PIARC – The Safe System Approach
Perth, Australia – video explains how redundancy in Safe System can save lives