Integrating urban road safety and sustainable transportation policy through the hierarchy of hazard controls

Abstract

Governments globally have endorsed Vision Zero, declaring that no person should be killed or permanently injured on public roads. Concurrently, the wider social, public health, and environmental implications of urban structure and transport choices have gained intense policy attention, as cities aim to transition toward sustainable accessibility. This is especially the case as research reveals a range of counter-intuitive road safety dynamics; many narrow approaches to road safety management appear to trigger adverse risk compensation and negative externality effects, potentially running counter to broader sustainability goals. Recognizing the urgent need to integrate road safety with broader urban sustainability measures, this paper presents a review of road safety literature using the established Hazard Control Hierarchy. In doing so, we identify and categorize opportunities to more effectively combine Vision Zero with broader sustainable accessibility policy objectives. We synthesize the literature against the Hazard Control Hierarchy to devise a framework to more effectively integrate the work of professional disciplines which shape the safety and sustainability of the urban built environment.

Keywords:

• Road safety
• risk management
• transport safety
• risk transfer
• urban planning

Acknowledgments

Sam McLeod wishes to thank Adam Wilmot for his insight and enthusiasm for road safety, which inspired this research. This research received no specific funding, but this paper was developed while Sam McLeod was providing consultancy services to the Road Safety Commission and Main Roads WA.

Notes

1 See https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/what-hierarchy-controls-and-what-does-it-have-do-bikes.html.

2 A list of all 196 sources identified has been provided as a supplementary dataset accompanying this paper.

3 We have classified mode shift to ridesharing and autonomous vehicles as substitution, as the ownership and control of the transport provision is structurally different to private vehicle ownership, though in some cases alterations in risk might be more accurately classified as engineering controls.