ITE Journal - June 2021 - 30

How a Safe System Works

O
The purpose of this effort was to develop recommendations directed
primarily at Congress and the Biden administration that can
move the United States toward Vision Zero using the Safe System
Approach while supporting a more equitable transportation system.
Through a series of meetings, the Consortium members identified
three essential areas for change: Safety across the System, Equity
by Investment, and Progress by Design. This article outlines the
rationale behind this effort and presents the recommendations.
More details can be found in the full Consortium Report (see page
31 for more information).

The Safe System Approach
The Safe System Approach offers the potential for major reductions
in traffic deaths and injuries in the United States, where more than
42,000 roadway fatalities are estimated to have occurred in 2020
alone, according to the National Safety Council, and crashes persist
as a leading cause of death among teens and young adults.1, 2
However, widespread adoption of this approach will require major
policy shifts at all levels of government, starting with the federal
level. During the past 20 years, a number of nations and cities around
the world have adopted the Safe System Approach. The approach
begins with a commitment to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries
among all road users and uses thoughtful road and vehicle design
to minimize crashes that occur when people make mistakes, and to
reduce crash forces so that people are less likely to be injured when
crashes occur. By designing safety into the road system, deaths and
serious injuries are engineered out. While the United States differs
in cultural and historical context from nations with the longest
experience with the Safe System Approach, their experience bodes
well for similar benefits in this country, if we implement the approach
in ways that prioritize safety upgrades in areas most in need.
The concept of the Safe System is built around the idea of shared
responsibility, and as shown in Figure 1, includes safe roads, safe
speeds, safe vehicles, safe users, and effective post-crash care. From
an infrastructure owner and operator perspective, embracing the Safe
System Approach starts with a commitment to planning, designing,
and operating a roadway system design that prioritizes safety and
engineers deaths and serious injuries out of the process to the greatest
degree possible. Countries with the longest experience with this
approach, including Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia, and New
Zealand, have seen fatalities drop by nearly 50 percent, or even more.3

Working Toward Equity Using the Safe System Approach
Compounding our safety problem is the fact that the burden of
death, injury, and social costs from crashes is unequally distributed.
Our current roadway system reflects a history of flawed decisions
about land use, opportunity, investment, and racial and ethnic
equity. A Safe System can be implemented in ways that help
address structural and institutional racism by correcting for prior
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The Safe System approach differs from conventional road safety methods in ...

Not accepting loss of life
The performance target in a Safe
System is zero-the elimination of
traffic deaths and serious injuries-
rather than incrementally reducing
their number. This is much more
than rhetoric. It is a different way of
pursuing safety.

Focusing on survivability,
not crashes
The focus of a Safe System is on
preventing death and serious injury
rather than preventing crashes. Cars
can be repaired, human bodies often
cannot. Reducing crash forces and
protecting road users is the key.

Selecting the right interventions
Interventions are focused on
preventing predictable behaviors
such as distraction and fatigue from
resulting in high energy crashes.
The objective is to make the system
tolerant of routine human errors.

Sharing responsibility

When crashes occur, the focus of a Safe
System is on changing the design of the
roads or vehicles so they do not happen
again, rather than on blaming the victim
for their failure to negotiate the system
safely. People behave in repeated and
predictable ways. The road system should
assist them in doing the right thing and
reduce opportunities for errors or mistakes.
This does not absolve road users from
their obligation to behave safely, but
acknowledges that safety progress requires
collective responsibility.

Thinking systemically and
working proactively
When remedies are found for problem
road situations in a Safe System,
the solution is applied in similar
locations throughout the system.
Safety is implemented proactively
and systemically rather than solely by
reacting to problem spots.

Safe System Fundamentals
underinvestment in historically marginalized communities and
closing gaps in safety between areas that have been well served and
those that have been underserved. Improvements to road safety
can contribute to equity by reducing the burden of unsafe roads on
historically underserved communities.
Equity differs from equality. A system can achieve equality if
each individual or group are given the same resources or opportunities. But a system that is equitable goes further. Equity requires
recognizing that communities have been differentially impacted
by a variety of circumstances, structures, and historical contexts
that have unjustly advantaged some, while unjustly disadvantaging
others. Hence, communities that have been disadvantaged require a
differential allocation of resources and opportunities to eventually
reach an equal outcome. In the United States, the recognition that
certain groups-for example because of their race, ethnicity, or
ability-have not enjoyed the same access to resources and opportunities must be accounted for through equitable decision-making.
Getting to zero requires a focus on equity. That is, the goal is
to eliminate death and serious injury for everyone using the roads,
which includes people of all ages, abilities, races, ethnicities, and
income levels. This demands investment according to need. In a
Safe System, we do what it takes to achieve the same outcome for all:
zero road deaths and serious injuries.

Recommendations of the Safe System Consortium, Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy/ITE

ver the past 20 years, a number of nations and cities around the world have adopted the Safe System
approach. This approach begins with a commitment to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries among all road
users, and uses thoughtful road and vehicle design to minimize crashes that occur when people make mistakes
and to reduce crash forces so that people are less likely to be injured when crashes occur. By designing safety into the
road system, deaths and serious injuries are engineered out. While the U.S. differs in cultural and historical context from
nations with the longest experience with the Safe System approach, their experience bodes well for similar beneﬁts in this
country, if we implement the approach in ways that prioritize safety upgrades in areas most in need.

ITE Journal - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ITE Journal - June 2021