Towards Zero: Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach Stephen Perkins OECD-ITF Joint Transport Research Centre

Report published September 2008 Working Group 2005 – governments, World Bank, WHO, FIA Foundation Spain –Candelaria Mederos-Cruz, DGT –Juan Carlos Gonzalez Luque, DGT

Targets: ECMT 50%

Progress Deaths 2006Deaths / Annual improvement: Improvement to meet target: Portugal %-0.9% France %-2.6% Netherlands %-5.3% Spain %-5.5% UK %-10.2% Romania %-14.9% Russia %-15.0%

Strategy Develop a Safe System Approach –Integrating measures that target: infrastructure design, maintenance, traffic management, vehicles, and driver behaviour –Shared responsibility / liability for safety between drivers, police, road managers, traffic departments … The Safe System is for all countries –Philosophy: to design system to ensure crash impact energies stay below levels that cause death and serious injury Intensify / transfer tried and tested measures: –Speed, Drink, Seatbelts, Safer vehicles

Safe System Targets Vision – zero deaths –Raises level of ambition –Stimulates new measures and research –Only ethical approach –Possible to achieve Zero child cyclists killed in Sweden in 2008, 1 child pedestrian Interim Targets – based on –Policies adopted –Modelled results of measures to be taken –Such evidence-based targets are needed to make ECMT / EU 50% improvement happen

Discussing the Safe System with senior policy makers Michèle Merli, France Isabelle Kardacz, EC Pere Navarro, Spain

Conclusions Tested at the High Level Seminar General support for the safe system Vision Zero still questioned but Towards Zero asks the right questions Research + evaluation key to success –Targeting and designing measures –Knowledge transfer and catch up –Keeping safety on the public agenda IRTAD data and analysis session at 16:00 today transport forum.org / research / safety