Why do we need a Safe System?
The Safe System approach to road safety is based on the premise that it is unacceptable for a road user to be killed or seriously injured if they make a mistake on the road. It aims to prevent a crash from occurring and to reduce the severity of a crash should it occur.
Research shows that even if all road users complied with the road rules, fatalities would only fall by around 50% and injuries by 30%. So even if inappropriate and illegal behaviour was eliminated and everyone obeyed the road rules, 16 people would still potentially die from making a simple mistake on Tasmanian roads each year. That’s why we need a safer road system, to ensure that when people crash they are protected and that they do not die as a result of the crash.
What does a Safe System look like?
Creating such a system requires a holistic approach which considers safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe speeds and safe vehicles – these are the four cornerstones of a Safe System.
- Safe Roads and Roadsides: Roads and roadsides designed and maintained to reduce the risk of crashes occurring and to lessen the severity of injury if a crash does occur.
- Safe Road Users: Encourage safe, consistent and compliant behaviour through well-informed and educated road users. Licensing, education, road rules, enforcement and sanctions are all part of the Safe System.
- Safe Speeds: Speed limits need to complement the road environment and all road users need to comply with speed limits. For example lower speed limits on high risk roads or where there are high numbers of vulnerable road users (e.g. shopping areas and school zones).
- Safe Vehicles: Vehicles which not only lessen the likelihood of a crash and protect occupants, but also simplify the driving task and protect vulnerable users. Increasingly this will involve vehicles that communicate with roads and other vehicles, while automating protective systems when crash risk is elevated.
The Safe System approach emphasises the fact that all elements in the system are interrelated and affect one another. Under a Safe System, we strengthen every component of the system, so that if something goes wrong, the rest of the system picks up the slack and a crash doesn’t result in serious injury or loss of life.
Safe System principles
The Safe System approach is based on the following principles:
People make mistakes: We’re only human. We need to accept that people make mistakes and that crashes will continue to occur. However, we do not need to accept that a crash will results in death or serious injury.
People are vulnerable: The human body is frail and can only withstand a certain level of force before sustaining serious injuries.
We need to create a more forgiving road transport system: All components of the road system – roads and roadsides; speeds; vehicles; and road use – need to be improved so that when a crash occurs, the forces in the crash do not exceed the limits of human tolerance.
We need to share responsibility for road safety: Responsibility for road safety is shared by everyone. Everybody has a role to play in creating a safe road system: including road designers, policy makers, vehicle manufacturers, governments and individual road users.
Creating a safe road system
The new Towards Zero – Tasmanian Road Safety Strategy 2017-2026 will be based on a long-term vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on Tasmanian roads.
To achieve this we will need to provide for safe road users in safe vehicles, travelling at safe speeds on safe roads with safe roadsides. Whilst road crashes are inevitable, road trauma is preventable. We all have a role to play in making a safe road system a reality.