What is the purpose? Practitioners' perspectives of the Safe System approach to road safety in Australia

The Safe System approach is a commonly adopted approach internationally to address road traffic injuries. Existing research has identified that the approach has multiple descriptions, and there have been noted difficulties associated with implementation. Practitioners have an important role in rolling out road safety interventions, and thus are a key point for translating Safe System into practice. However, there has been limited investigation of how practitioners view and understand Safe System. Of particular importance is practitioners' interpretation of Safe System's purpose and the facilitators and barriers to application. Four hundred and sixty-nine respondents completed an online survey which investigated perceptions regarding Safe System's purpose. The results highlight that practitioners view Safe System as being multidimensional, with a range of ideas about what the overall purpose is. Safe System was perceived as both visionary and practical, with the majority of respondents reporting that it defines a broad outcome for road safety and provides direction on how to respond to road traffic injury. Additionally, two thirds of respondents identified that they applied Safe System to the last project or program they worked on and were broadly supportive of the approach. However, multiple impediments to application were identified, with these barriers effected by the practitioners' demographics, role and organisation. For practitioners, Safe System represents a complex approach that aims to reduce injury and deaths, however, effective application can only occur when barriers are reduced.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iatssr.2024.01.004
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0386111224000049
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03861112
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Green, Michael
  • Muir, Carlyn
  • Oxley, Jennifer
• Publication Date: 2024-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 84-99
• Serial:
  • IATSS Research
  • Volume: 48
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0386-1112
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03861112
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Highway safety; Safety programs; Stakeholders; Surveys
• Identifier Terms: Safe System Approach
• Geographic Terms: Australia
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01912692
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 21 2024 11:04AM