Paradigm shift in road safety policy

The report from the International Transport Forum of the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD), recognises the important role of international vehicle safety testing organisation Global NCAP and regional NCAPs in increasing vehicle safety and reducing fatalities by encouraging legislative 'push' and consumer 'pull'.

The report, titled Zero road deaths and serious injuries: leading a paradigm shift to a safe system, found that to significantly reduce road fatalities and serious injuries on a global scale would require more than increasing efforts in implementing traditional road safety measures.

Instead, governments must adopt a paradigm shift, taking the UN’s road safety related sustainable development goals as an opportunity to fundamentally review road safety policies in the context of a safe system approach. It includes a call to action – "better ways to protect lives and prevent injuries exist in a safe system. The time to act boldly is now. Visionary, strong and sustained leadership is vital" – through 10 recommendations:

• Think safe roads, not safer roads;

• Provide strong, sustained leadership for the paradigm shift to a safe system;

• Foster a sense of urgency to drive change; underpin aspirational goals with concrete operational targets;

• Establish shared responsibility for road safety;

• Apply a results-focused way of working among road safety stakeholders;

• Leverage all parts of a safe system for greater overall effect and so that if one part fails the other parts will still prevent serious harm;

• Use a safe system to make city traffic safe for vulnerable road users;

• Build safe-system capacity in low and middle-income countries to improve road safety in rapidly motorising places;

• Support data collection, analysis and research on road traffic as a safe system.

The report highlights the role vehicle safety regulations and consumer information programmes can contribute. Seen in the context of a safe system approach, Global NCAP’s roadmap for vehicle safety calls for the combination of stronger consumer information and the universal application of minimum international standards for crash protection and avoidance.

Among Global NCAP’s recommendations are proposals for the mandatory application to all new cars of the UN’s regulations for front, side, and pedestrian impact and electronic stability control.

Global NCAP secretary-general David Ward, says: "Global NCAP strongly supports the safe system paradigm shift the OECD is calling on governments to adopt.

"In 2015 from a total of 68-million new cars 25% fail to meet UN minimum safety standards, lacking air bags, antilock brakes (ABS) or electronic stability control (ESC).

"By 2020 at the latest Global NCAP wants all new cars to meet UN crash-test standards with air bags, ABS and ESC fitted as standard."