Publication

The central focus of all road safety initiatives is to protect people who use the road. Whether they are drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or cyclists, the fundamental principle of road safety is that no one should die or be seriously injured on the road.

Safer road users is one of four core and integrated elements of the globally recognized Safe System approach to road safety, which is a framework that aims to prevent road deaths and injuries by making roads safer for all users. Safer road users within the system focuses on the enforcement and supporting public awareness and education of laws that address road user behavior. These include the key behavioral road safety risk factors:

• Speeding
• Drink driving
• Non-use of seatbelts
• Non-use of motorcycle helmets
• Non-use of child restraint systems
• Distracted driving

Safer road users is also a central focus of the United Nations Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 - 2030. The plan calls for key recommended actions from Governments, including:

• Enact and enforce road safety legislation on the key road safety behavioral risk factors
• Establish traffic rules and licensing requirements
• Ensure road infrastructure takes account of the needs for all road users and is designed to facilitate safe behaviors
• Make use of vehicle safety features to support safe behaviors

The most recent World Health Organization Global Status Report on Road Safety 2021 - 2030, outlines that countries in Asia-Pacific still have gaps relating to best-practice laws on safer road user risk factors. Similarly, enforcement and supporting public awareness and education initiatives are not widespread, meaning that even if a good practice law is in place, there may be insufficient implementation to positively impact outcomes in road crash deaths and serious injuries.

The APRSO Road Safety Capacity Building Program has produced a range of resources that can help to guide safer road user initiatives. These have been produced a range of global and regional experts, and include presentations and video webinars that are accessible below:

• Understanding road traffic risks for road users, from the Global Road Safety Partnership
• Designing and implementing effective enforcement initiatives, from the Global Road Safety Partnership
• Safer road user behavior change approaches, from the Transport Accident Commission, Victoria
• Vulnerable road users: Lessons from Vietnam, from the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation
• Motorcycle helmet initiatives, from the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation
• Road policing and communication case study from Ethiopia, , from the Global Road Safety Partnership