Managing road safety
The new interim Road Safety Strategy approved by Full Council in January 2022, sets out our approach to road safety.
Swindon’s updated Road Safety Strategy is based on the Safe Systems approach, which underpins the UN’s Global Plan for Road Safety, and is based on four key principles;
- People make mistakes that can lead to road crashes
- The human body has a limited physical ability to tolerate crash forces before harm occurs
- A shared responsibility exists amongst those who design, build, manage and use roads and vehicles and provide post-crash care to prevent crashes resulting in serious injury or death
- All parts of the system must be strengthened to multiply their effects; and if one part fails, road users are still protected.
This takes a more proactive approach to road safety and, in recognition that mistakes happen and we cannot eradicate road casualties, it focuses on reducing the number of casualties killed or seriously injured on our roads, compared to the 2017 to 2019 three year average.