The Safe System approach
The Safe System approach to road safety takes as its starting point the position that there is no acceptable level of road deaths or serious injuries. Road users respecting the road rules have a right to expect that they should be safe.
It is a "forgiving" strategy for road-injury prevention. It acknowledges that while human error on the road is inevitable, death or serious injury resulting from a crash are not.
It is based on an understanding that effective road-injury prevention is achieved through the interdependence and multiplier effects of various policy measures and a well-balanced set of effective interventions.
Four guiding principles are central to a Safe System:
- People make mistakes that can lead to crashes. The professionals, responsible for the transport system, needs to accommodate human error and unpredictability.
- The human body has a known, limited physical ability to tolerate crash forces before harm occurs. The impact forces resulting from a collision must therefore be limited to prevent fatal or serious injury.
- Individuals have a responsibility to act with care and within traffic laws. A shared responsibility exists with those who design, build, manage and use roads and vehicles to prevent crashes resulting in serious injury or death and to provide effective post-crash care.
- All parts of the system must be strengthened in combination to multiply their effects, and to ensure that road users are still protected if one part of the system fails.