'Zero deaths' call as councillor says road tragedies 'should not be inevitable'

Figures show that 121 people were killed or injured on Shropshire's roads last year, and several more people have died in traffic collisions this year.

Councillor Rob Wilson has submitted a motion which he will table at a Shropshire Council meeting this week, calling for the authority to target zero deaths on roads in the county.

In it, he discusses the "Vision Zero Safe System", saying: "Traditional approaches to road safety assume that people can be taught, persuaded or compelled to behave safely. A Safe System approach is different. It accepts that while road-users should behave safely and legally, people do sometimes make mistakes, and that some mistakes lead to crashes.

"Vision Zero principles will change public perception about road danger, so that death and injury is no longer an inevitable part of our lives as we move around, but something that can be avoided if a serious and sustained effort is made to tackle the causes of the problem.”

Councillor Wilson cites work that has gone on in Sweden and Norway to successfully reduce the number of road deaths by adopting Vision Zero, and pointed out that a number of UK councils have set targets of zero road deaths by a certain date - with London aiming to achieve it by 2041.

His motion urges the council to support the view that the only justifiable target should be that in the longer term no one is killed or seriously injured on the roads in Shropshire.

The four key principles of the Vision Zero Safe System are that possibility for mistakes should be taken into account, human life and health should be given the highest priority, responsibility needs to be taken and danger reduction measures taken for those whose transport creates the highest risk, and that active travel such as cycling and walking should be enabled.

The motion calls on the council to resolve to adopt a Vision Zero Safe System approach to road danger reduction, work closely with partners and stakeholders to take a whole system approach, work together on infrastructure, behaviour, technology and legislation to achieve this change, and to set a target date for there to be zero fatalities and severe injuries on Shropshire’s roads and streets.

It also calls on the authority to resolve to instruct officers to bring a paper to the cabinet within 12 months to address how these points will be achieved.

Councillor Wilson's motion will go before the full council on Thursday. To read his motion in full, visit shropshire.gov.uk/committee-services/mgAi.aspx?ID=21123

To watch the meeting on Thursday at 10am visit shropshire.gov.uk/committee-services/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=125&MID=4607#AI21123 and click on the agenda front sheet to access the video link.