The joint ITF and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) "Towards Zero" research report published in 2008 marked the first official international moves to promote the introduction of a so-called "Safe System" framework for casualty reduction in future road safety policy. Now, with road casualties worldwide not falling as quickly as they once did, the Paris-based ITF is renewing its efforts, and has recently set up a working group to develop new Safe System policy guidance for countries struggling to improve their road safety.

The concept is known in some parts of the world as "Vision Zero" and "Sustainable Safety", and is centred on the key challenge and long term aim of eliminating death and serious injuries resulting from incidents on the road. It seeks to achieve this by moving away from traditional road safety methods, by widening responsibility for action to ensure road crashes do not lead to serious or fatal injuries to include not just road users, but road safety managers, vehicle manufacturers and others. 

In Europe, Sweden and the Netherlands were early adopters of the concept in the 1990's, and official figures from both countries for the period to 2005 suggest steadily declining road casualty numbers. Yet for many administrations Vision Zero represents a very major change in their established approach to road casualty reduction. The ITF itself admits that some countries worldwide remain unconvinced about various important aspects – especially the practicality of establishing “zero” targets. However since the original report appeared several authorities have accepted the principle, and a Vision of Zero fatal and serious road casualties is today official policy in the major US cities of New York and San Francisco.    

The new working group is made up of top road safety experts from 30 countries worldwide, alongside representatives from the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the International Road Assessment Programme and the FIA Foundation. It will prepare an evidence-based report by December 2016, founded on road safety experience in ITF and OECD countries. An interim report is due in November next year, to coincide with the half-way point in the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety.