Safe Systems Assessments

Safe System is a philosophy for considering the various elements of the transport system forming an environment which eliminates the potential for serious and fatal injury crashes. The Safe System philosophy accepts that road users make mistakes but aims to provide an environment which prevents the road users from suffering serious or fatal injuries as a consequence of mistakes.

RSA has experience undertaking Safe System Assessments, especially for major road infrastructure projects and for initiatives involving vulnerable road users including motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. 

Our Safe System assessments are informed by the Austroads Safe System Assessment Framework. Many of the principles of Safe System assessments overlap with Road Safety Audits, however Safe System is particularly orientated to identifying and treating crashes that could lead to serious or fatal injuries. The crash types include ‘run-of road’, head-on, side-impact and vulnerable road users. As with Road Safety Audits, the risks components include exposure (i.e. traffic volumes), crash likelihood and crash severity.

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