A new report that sets out new approaches to road safety has won the 2017 Special Award of the Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Awards.

Prince Michael of Kent.

With 1.25 million people are killed by traffic every year, according to the World Health Organization, the study by a group of 30 international road safety experts from 24 countries, convened by the International Transport Forum at the OECD, reviews the experiences of countries and cities that have made it their long-term objective to eliminate fatal road crashes.

These include Sweden, the Netherlands and New York City, among others, which base their road safety policies on ‘Vision Zero’, the aspiration that no-one should be killed in a crash, and as a result have transformed their road networks into a ‘Safe System’ where all elements are designed and managed together to avoid crashes and, where they do occur, serious injuries or death.

The ITF added that the UK has one of the best road safety records in the world – but, as in other developed countries, seems to have reached a plateau. For some user groups, fatality rates are going up (e.g. cyclists +4% in Q1+2 2016, compared to 2010-14 average; +9% for vehicle passengers in Q1+2/2016 on previous year).

The ITF report on ‘Zero Road Deaths and Serious Injuries: Leading a Paradigm Shift in Road Safety’ reviews the experience of Safe System countries and sets out core recommendations to policy makers and the road safety community:

• Be ambitious – think safe roads, not just safer roads. The conventional approach to road safety identifies seeks incremental improvements to current practice. A Safe System works backwards from the vision of zero road deaths and creates new perspectives on how to do it.
• Be resolute – foster a sense of urgency and lead the way: In communities that have adopted a Safe System, innovation occurred where political leaders strongly felt that the current approach no longer delivered. Nothing will change in road safety without strong leaders.
• Be inclusive – establish shared responsibility for road safety: Today, avoiding crashes is the responsibility of the road user. A Safe System requires everyone with a role in the traffic environment to recognize this role and assume responsibility for making traffic safe.
• Be concrete – underpin aspirational goals with concrete operational targets: Establishing milestones that are attainable for clearly defined groups or issues show the overall vision of zero road deaths is long-term but realistic.

Congratulating ITF on the award, Prince Michael of Kent said: “The new report comes at a time when the world needs to change up a gear or two to accelerate efforts to reduce the unacceptable toll of death and serious injury on our roads. It is a most welcome addition to the all-important bank of knowledge available to governments and a fine example of the leadership shown by ITF.”