Saving lives with the safe system approach

THE "safe system" approach is considered global best practice for making roads safer. It begins with recognizing that humans have physical limitations and will commit mistakes. We therefore need to create road environments where human error will result in minimal injury and where the possibility of death is low. It is about "human-proofing" our road travel so that even if one part or one feature of the road safety system fails, vulnerable road users will not suffer grave harm. It requires attention to four crucial aspects: safe roads, safe vehicles, safe people and safe speeds.

Under the safe system approach, a large part of the responsibility lies with those who design, build and manage roads — especially those who determine how fast vehicles can travel. Today, the number one prescription for urban road safety is to keep speed limits in cities and towns at 30 kilometers per hour (kph) or less and to design roads with traffic-calming infrastructure (humps, speed tables or raised crossings, chicanes, etc.) so that vehicles automatically slow down.