Towards Zero Road Deaths

11 October 2014

Reducing road fatalities and serious injuries by helping governments to implement a "safe system" approach in road safety is the objective of a new ITF Working Group launched on 1st October in Paris.

The "Working Group on the Implementation of a Safe System Approach" will develop actionable policy guidance for countries who aim to improve their road safety performance and in the long run eliminate road traffic as a cause of death or serious injuries.

"Vision Zero" is official policy in a number of countries, as well as in cities such as New York or San Francisco. A key element of attaining Vision Zero is creating a "Safe System" in which responsibility for safety is placed not on the road user, but on system design - ie. the road system should be conceived in ways that are forgiving of human error.

The new ITF working group comprises 28 top-level road safety experts from 23 countries, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) and the FIA Foundation.

The new working group will present an interim report in November 2015, coinciding with the half-way point of the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety 2010-15. The full life-cycle of the working group is two-years, and a final report will be completed by the end of 2016.