Safe Road Users
Learn about safe road users and see highlights of our planned safe road user actions.
The Safe Road Users pillar addresses human behaviours that contribute to collisions. Research shows that at least 90% of all motor vehicle crashes are caused fully or in part by human error.
Even though we work to design and build safe roads to reduce human error, the safe system requires that all road users follow the rules of the road. When road users fail to comply, unsafe actions will be enforced.
This pillar also works to make sure people understand laws, signage and individual responsibility. As such, education and engagement is a key component of Vision Zero and the Safe System Approach. Even the best drivers, riders and walkers will make mistakes or poor decisions. Having safe road users who accept their responsibilities is an important part of a safe road system.
Being a safe road user involves more than understanding and following the rules of the road, it involves:
- Having greater awareness of road safety issues,
- Understanding one’s abilities and limitations,
- Taking necessary precautions to stay safe.
Highlights of our Safe Road Users interventions include:
Police traffic enforcement
We work with our law enforcement partners to address driver distraction, speed and impairment, which are top contributing factors in collisions. High visibility enforcement is proven to have a major impact on lowering high risk behaviours that contribute to increased collision risk and severity.
Annual Vision Zero Surrey progress report
Road safety data is analyzed and key actions are shared with Surrey citizens, partners and stakeholders. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility. Only by understanding the impact of our actions can we plan for a future where road deaths and injuries are a thing of the past.
Collaborative road safety education and engagement campaigns
Delivering targeted education and engagement campaigns, in collaboration with our partners, is a key priority for Vision Zero Surrey. We design new and enhanced education and engagement programs to address ‘hot spot’ areas, where and when its needed most.
We connect the community with neighbourhood specific information, address specific safety issues and promote skills and safe behaviours by leveraging data and mapping. The goal is to promote a culture of safety and positively shift attitudes, beliefs and behaviours so we can have safe mobility for all.
Partnerships to extend reach and impact
Our education and engagement efforts collaborate with trusted community social service agencies and partner organizations to ensure our campaigns are inclusive and equitably delivered.
Addressing inequities
We have an increased focus on equity. Our data shows that some sub-groups of the population suffer disproportionately from traffic collisions than others. These subgroups include youth, seniors, Indigenous populations and those in low-income communities. We work with our partners to incorporate equity into our projects and continually review our data to determine where we can make the greatest impact.
Safe and active schools program
Bringing together outreach, education, training and infrastructure upgrades, our Safe and Active School Program is about making the daily trip to school safe and active. To support our Vision Zero Surrey goals, we are enhancing the program by introducing new initiatives using the Safe Systems approach.
Building on more than 600 engineering upgrades made to date, we are adding new pedestrian crossings, sidewalks, improved signage and traffic calming measures around schools. Working with school administration, we will continue to create Safe Routes to Schools and are piloting the School Streets Program to help address traffic safety issues and reduce pick-up and drop-off congestion.
Road safety culture surveys
Our road safety culture survey is designed to collect input from residents on their perceptions of unsafe road user behaviours, how their own behaviors align with their beliefs about road safety, and their perspectives on effective measures to target risky driving behaviors. Input is used to inform our Vision Zero work, and over time can help us understand how attitudes towards road safety are changing.