Improving Road Safety
in the OIC Member States
2
Decade of Action
As mentioned above, the UN launched its Decade of Action for Road Safety in over 100 countries
in 2011. The ultimate aim of the programme was to prevent five million road traffic deaths by
2020. The activities in the Decade of Action are built on five pillars:
1. Road Safety Management;
2. Safer Roads and Mobility;
3. Safer Vehicles;
4. Safer Road Users;
5. Post-crash Response.
Three of these pillars are traditional elements of the road traffic system (roads, vehicles, users)
and are usually treated separately, often applying the 3 E’s: education, enforcement and
engineering. The UN resolution encourages countries to implement integrated road safety
strategies targeting all five pillars. These strategies should be developed taking into account
country specific requirements, resources and capabilities. The five pillars are used in this project
to streamline our analysis of and recommendations for the OIC member countries. In this
process we have added a specific element, i.e. road safety data.
Safe Systems Approach
In two of the safest countries in the world, Sweden and the Netherlands, it was realized that all
of the elements, as included in the five pillars, have to work together as a system. The Swedish
Vision Zero and Dutch Sustainable Safety were the inspiration for the internationally accepted
Safe Systems Approach. In the OECD report “Towards Zero” it is explained how this approach
puts the road user as a central element in the system: roads, vehicles, legislation, etc. have to be
tuned to the strengths and weaknesses of the road user. There is no Safe Systems blueprint;
hence it is called the Safe Systems Approach. The approach is universally applicable, however
putting Safe Systems thinking into practice requires local knowledge and consideration. Hence
the importance of this study, in which the background of the Safe Systems Approach is presented
and a benchmarking study of road safetymanagement in the OICmember countries is conducted
as a basis for developing strategic directions and providing policy recommendations.
Road safety development phases
A clear relationship can be established between road safety initiatives and policies on the one
hand and the longer term effects on road safety on the other hand. In this relationship three road
safety development phases can be identified, i.e. establishment, growth and maturity. The curve
indicates an increasing road safety problem, with a growing number of road safety casualties,
due to rapid motorisation, and an eventual reverse of the curve as a result of road safety policy
and measures.