Image credit: iRAP

iRAP is proud to support the launch of the International Transport Forum (ITF)’s new Safe System Tool, an innovative framework designed to guide countries, municipalities, companies, and other road safety stakeholders in implementing the Safe System Approach to road safety.

The user-friendly tool will help road safety professionals worldwide proactively evaluate, develop, and monitor road safety projects, strategies, and plans with the goal of reducing fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.

The Safe System approach operates under the critical belief that there is no acceptable level of road deaths or serious injuries. It takes into account human error, which is inevitable on the road, but focuses on proactive and systemic measures to prevent serious crashes before they occur.

By combining interventions that optimise road safety in all facets of the road transport system – 5-star road user safety, in 5-star vehicles on 5-star roads, travelling at safe speeds – the Safe System seeks to create a forgiving system that offers protection even when one part fails.

The Safe System Framework, developed by the ITF Working Group (of which iRAP’s Global Technical Director James Bradford is a member), is designed to be universally applicable and effective in addressing all modes of road transport.

It links the six road safety pillars (safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe road-user behaviour, post-crash care, and road safety management) to the five key components of a Safe System (institutional governance, shared responsibility, pillar strengthening, prevention of exposure to large forces, and supporting safe behaviour).

It also provides a roadmap with three stages of Safe System development:

1. Emerging: Awareness exists, but interventions are not yet systematic.
2. Developing: Policies and interventions are linked, and road safety social norms are beginning to form.
3. Mature: Advanced technical and policy interventions are in place, and a culture of safety is well-established.

Speaking from the launch of the tool during the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech in February, ITF Secretary-General Young Tae Kim said, “Our roads will become safe only through collective effort. The Safe System Tool fosters the kind of coordinated action from all groups with a stake in safety and health that will drive down the unacceptably high number of traffic victims.”

With a vision for a world free of high-risk roads, iRAP is supporting governments, mobility clubs, development banks, research organisations, industry and road safety NGOs with the free tools, training and support to improve road safety within the infrastructure pillar of the Safe System.

To request an online demonstration of the tool, email contact@ITF-OECD.org