Vision Zero & the Safe System
Lives lost on Australian roads.
Our goal is zero.
Towards Zero
Vision Zero is the long-term goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on the road network. It treats every road death as preventable, not as an unavoidable consequence of mobility.
Core Foundations
- Every road death is preventable, not inevitable.
- People make mistakes — the road system must forgive them.
- Responsibility is shared across road designers, vehicle manufacturers, regulators and users.
- Speed, infrastructure, vehicles and post-crash response work together — not in isolation.
These foundations underpin the Australian and international Safe System approach to road safety.
The Safe System Approach
The Safe System approach is the practical framework that delivers on Vision Zero. It recognises that people make mistakes and are vulnerable, and asks the road system — its roads, speeds, vehicles, road users, and post-crash response — to forgive those mistakes so they don't result in death or serious injury.
Each pillar reinforces the others. A roadside hazard is more forgivable at lower speeds; a modern vehicle survives a crash that an older one wouldn't; a swift post-crash response converts a fatality into an injury.
Principles of a Safe System
The ideas that shape every Safe System decision.
Safe System Elements
The approach is built around five main pillars: