A New Traffic Safety Paradigm

Despite large investments in traffic safety programs and technologies, motor vehicle crashes continue to impose high social costs. New strategies are needed to achieve ambitious safety targets such as Vision Zero. Recent research improves our understanding of factors that affect traffic risks and identifies new safety strategies. Applying this knowledge requires a paradigm shift, a change in the way problems are defined and solutions evaluated. The old paradigm assumed that driving is generally safe, and so favored safety programs that target special risks such as youth, senior, impaired and distracted driving. The new paradigm recognizes exposure (the amount that people drive) as a risk factor, and therefore the safety benefits of vehicle travel reduction strategies such as multi-modal planning, efficient transport pricing, transit-oriented development, and Transportation Demand Management programs. This presentation discusses the new safety paradigm and its implications for urban transport planning.
* Cette présentation se fera en anglais.