South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings has added his support to an international campaign aiming to eliminate all death and serious injury from our roads.

‘Vision Zero’ is a global ambition based on the belief that ‘no human being should lose their life or be seriously injured as the result of a road traffic collision’.

Launched in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero is a long-term aspiration that death and serious injuries are preventable rather than inevitable.

The concept uses a ‘Safe System’ approach which sees all road safety activity split into five themes: Safe Roads, Safe Road Users, Safe Vehicles, Safe Speeds and Post-Collision Care.

At the heart of the system is an acknowledgment that humans make mistakes and are fragile when faced with the severe impact of a collision.

Adding his support to the campaign, Dr Billings said: “Accidents happen; this is inevitable, but the lasting damage can be greatly reduced by adopting the Safe System approach. Each aspect of improving safety has to be addressed – such as making vehicles safer, making roads safer, reducing speeding and having an improved response when collisions happen.

“It’s an ambitious campaign, but the South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership (SYSRP) and partners in the police, fire, local authorities and National Highways are committed to working together towards Vision Zero and I’m pleased to add my support to the campaign.”

All SYSRP road safety interventions will be evidence and data-led and regularly monitored against set targets.

Current Safe System projects include Community SpeedWatch, school and college visits, proactive police enforcement, education campaigns and casualty reduction road schemes.

Find out more here – South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership (sysrp.co.uk)