Vision Zero & the Safe System
Vision Zero
Vision Zero is the long-term goal of eliminating all road deaths and serious injuries. It is also reflected in related terms such as Towards Zero and Planning for Zero, which are used across road safety strategies in Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
Safe System Approach
The Safe System approach is the practical pathway for achieving Vision Zero outcomes. It translates the ethical goal of no death or serious injury into a system-wide approach to planning, designing, operating and managing roads.
Applying these principles requires a shift from only trying to prevent crashes to also managing the consequences of crashes when they occur. This means designing roads and roadsides, speeds, vehicles, behaviour settings and post-crash response so that impact forces remain within survivable limits.
Each pillar contributes to a safer and more forgiving road system. Progress toward Vision Zero depends on these elements working together rather than being treated as separate activities.
Fundamental Definitions
- Zero Harm - A safe road system in which no one is killed or seriously injured.
- Serious Injury - An injury that threatens life and/or causes permanent or long-term impairment.
Vision Zero Core Foundations
- No death or long-term health loss in road traffic is acceptable.
- The Safe System Approach is a primary framework for achieving Vision Zero.
Safe System Principles
- People make mistakes and the road system must be forgiving of human error
- The human body has limited tolerance to crash force.
- Responsibility for safety is shared between system designers, operators, vehicle providers, road managers and people travelling on roads.
- All parts of the system must be strengthened so that if one part fails, other parts still protect people from death or serious injury.
Fundamental Definitions
- Zero Harm - A safe road system in which no one is killed or seriously injured.
- Serious Injury - An injury that threatens life and/or causes permanent or long-term impairment.
The Safe System Approach
The Safe System Approach is a systems-based road-safety paradigm recognising that people will make mistakes and have limited biomechanical tolerance to crash forces.
The road transport system—roads and roadsides, vehicles, speeds, road use and enforcement, and post-crash care—must be designed and managed together so that every day, non-extreme errors in road-user performance do not result in death or long-term serious injury.
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.
Principles of a Safe System
The ideas that shape every Safe System decision.
Safe System Elements
The approach is built around five main pillars: