The Safe System Approach is a guiding framework for transportation researchers and professionals for preventing traffic injuries and fatalities, where multiple layers of protection are created for all road users to prevent crashes from occurring and minimizing the harm that occurs when crashes do happen.
Explore the latest resources about the Safe System Approach here:
Safe System Tool(link is external)
The International Transport Forum(link is external) has created the Safe System Tool(link is external) — a free-to-use platform designed to support road safety assessments and interventions. This user-friendly tool allows stakeholders to evaluate and enhance their strategies, projects, and plans, aligning them with the Safe System approach and to proactively reduce road deaths and severe injuries. The tool provides a structured framework for users to assess their current road safety plans, project, and policies. By facilitating a comprehensive understanding of existing strategies, the tool aids in the development of targeted actions to enhance road safety outcomes. To learn more and access the tool, visit the Safe System Tool website(link is external).
2025 Safe System Academy(link is external)
The Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy(link is external) and the Swedish Transport Administration(link is external) present the 2025 Safe System Academy on June 2 to June 6 in Washington, D.C. The five-day workshop will feature international instructors alongside U.S. road safety leaders to provide attendees with an in-depth understanding of Safe System theory and practice, in addition to a tour of local road safety improvements and a Technology Symposium at the Swedish Embassy. To learn more and register, visit the 2025 Safe System Academy website(link is external).
Policy brief: "The Safe System Pyramid"(link is external)
The National Center for Sustainable Transportation(link is external) has released a policy brief, "The Safe Systems Pyramid"(link is external), detailing the importance of the Safe Systems Pyramid from a public health perspective compared to the "Es" framework, which prioritizes engineering, enforcement, and education equally. The Safe Systems Pyramid acknowledges that the most effective forms of transportation safety are interventions on the population level, rather than those that prioritize individual effort.
For more information on the Safe System Approach and additional resources, reports, and examples of the approach being used in practice, visit our Safe System Approach to Road Safety webpage.