Latest update
We are now concluding the project’s Stream 1 "Definition of Zero Harm and Current State Assessment". The next stage of the project Stream 2 "Planning Frameworks and Zero Pathways" is underway. Scroll down for more details.
Around 1,500 people lose their lives each year in road crashes in Australia and NZ. Another 40,000 people suffer serious injuries each year.
Aligning with global targets, Australia and New Zealand have set national targets of zero road deaths and zero serious road trauma by 2050.
Austroads has been at the forefront of developing the guidance and evidence to support the implementation of life saving initiatives and road designs.
Austroads project – Charting a path to eliminating road death and serious injury – is focused on developing a path to zero deaths and serious injuries through a holistic approach to the safety of all people using the road.
Project’s vision
The Charting a path to eliminating road death and serious injury project will provide practical guidance to help progress the all-government-levels leadership needed to fully implement the necessary actions to reduce fatalities and serious injuries to zero by 2050. In doing so, the project will also identify change management activities and enabling actions (such as advocacy, promotion and training) needed to shift professional, institutional, media, key stakeholder and community acceptance.
“Zero is possible but we can’t do it in isolation. We need to make sure we are working across borders, layers of government and industry sectors to build the collaboration that is necessary. We’ve got to change the fundamentals of how we move people and that can only be done with strong partnerships. Austroads’ role is to connect those who are responsible for managing roads with the best thinkers, innovators and implementation experts to find and implement solutions that will make real change and save lives,” said Michael Nieuwesteeg, Austroads’ Road Safety & Design Program Manager.
We are now concluding the project’s Stream 1 "Definition of Zero Harm and Current State Assessment".
Several themes have emerged from Stream 1, which will help shape Austroads’ guidance and projects in near future, namely:
- Defining key road safety terms and setting ambitious, yet meaningful targets.
- Developing Safe System End States, which are the desired future road transport system characteristics that can deliver a zero or near-zero outcome for road fatalities and serious injuries.
- Systematically assessing the current and future states of road safety to identify systemic risks, safety gaps and strategic road safety interventions and responses.
- Developing cost-effective road safety strategies to achieve significant reductions in serious road trauma using our proposed Planning for Zero Framework.
Currently underway is the second stream of activities in the project’s program of work - "Planning Frameworks and Zero Pathways". Stream 2 will:
- Develop Zero Pathway options for each jurisdiction and a sample of local governments.
- Map all stakeholders whose involvement is required to implement essential and supporting actions to achieve a safe road transport system, including communications and training requirements for practitioners.
Aligning with global targets, Australia and New Zealand have set national targets of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050. To reach these targets, significant trauma reductions must be achieved and sustained over the next three decades.
While some progress has been made in Australia and New Zealand, no Australian or New Zealand jurisdiction has ever experienced sustained trauma reductions of the scale required to achieve the target by 2050.
For zero targets to be achieved, it is necessary to understand what we expect the road transport system to look like in 2050. To date there is no clearly defined role of road users in a zero-harm road transport system, apart from acknowledging that drivers will continue to make routine mistakes, and the core functionalities that can be expected and required of vehicles.
Transport agencies need a greater level of support to plan for a zero-harm transport system. The thinking to support jurisdictions in finding a sustainable pathway to zero is in its early stages and there is a lack of capability and capacity in planning for zero.
Austroads has provided leadership in developing concepts such as Movement & Place, road stereotypes and network safety plans. These are important concepts for safety planning. Transport agencies need to define how these concepts support long term planning for zero, address questions about practical application in sufficient detail and make those accessible to local governments.
Now, Austroads is building collaboration and partnerships across borders and layers of government to develop zero transformative pathways to support all levels of government across Australia and New Zealand to achieve their zero target. By bringing thinkers, policy, and decision makers together, Austroads aims to improve the understanding of how settings across the transport system interact and encourage progress in all areas of the transport system.
Austroads new project – Charting a path to eliminating road death and serious injury – is focused on developing a path to zero deaths and serious injuries through a holistic approach to the safety of all people using the road.
The project will provide clear guidance and technical advice to road safety leaders, road managers and practitioners in road design, vehicle registration, driver licensing and enforcement to:
- support Austroads members in charting their own sustainable path to Zero
- quantify the impacts of road trauma and benefits of serious road trauma elimination
- identify actions local governments can take to facilitate serious road trauma elimination in their communities
- assist with efforts to optimise future investment in road safety
- support stakeholders and other road transport program owners to align their objectives with safety goals.
The project’s program of works is comprised of six distinct, yet inter-related, areas:
- definition of a zero-harm and 2050 end states for the road transport system
- assessment of the current state of road trauma and the road transport system
- development of a planning framework that can be tailored to each jurisdiction and level of government
- development of Zero Pathway options for each jurisdiction and a sample of local governments
- identification of key stakeholders and their needs and development of supporting guidance
- identification of knowledge gaps and research needs, and development of research/practice programs to address them.
Governance Model Levels
The project governance model consists of three levels. At the strategic level, the project is governed by the Austroads Board which has representatives from the Australian Commonwealth, each Australian state and territory, New Zealand, and the Australian Local Government Association. The Board is responsible for setting the project's strategic direction and ensuring it is aligned with the Austroads vision.
The Austroads Road Safety Task Force (RSTF) is accountable for the project’s tactical direction and implementation of outputs. The project’s Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) acts as a technical advisor and a brains trust.
At the operational level, the Project Control Group (PCG) provides operational support and scrutiny of the individual projects under the program of works. The PCG ensures access to jurisdictional resources, stakeholders, best practice, and road safety representatives. The Technical Review Committee (TRC) members provide road safety advice, identify challenges and opportunities, and develop practical and sound solutions, as requested by the Project Manager.
The Charting a path to eliminating road death and serious injury project is managed by Hafez Alavi.
Hafez is passionate about, and experienced with, road safety and sustainable mobility. His vision is an inclusive future where every journey is safe and sustainable.
He has over 20 years of experience in the fields of road safety, injury prevention research, transport planning and sustainable mobility in the public/private sectors and the academia.
Hafez’s expertise is recognised in the areas of:
- Road safety strategy and action plans
- Safe System engineering and practice
- Road safety infrastructure and speed management
- Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) & Active Transport
- Vulnerable Road Users (VRU), especially pedestrians & cyclists
- Placemaking & COVID19 response
- Innovation, coaching and training
He was a key contributor in strategising, planning, developing, delivering, and evaluating the Victorian Government’s ambitious Towards Zero Strategy and Action Plan. Previously the Director of the Safe System Road Infrastructure Program (SSRIP) – an investment of $1.7 Billion in road safety infrastructure – for the Transport Accident Commission in Victoria, Australia, Hafez has made significant contributions to transform Victoria’s transport system and infrastructure.
Hafez is an enthusiastic road safety trainer and finds many opportunities to communicate his knowledge with the public and professionals.
He is a regular guest speaker at national and international road and transport safety conferences and has multi-disciplinary communication skills to forge lasting relationships with key stakeholders and the community to drive transformational agendas.
Hafez completed his PhD at the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), where he researched into road safety and injury prevention with a focus on pedestrian safety in concentrated urban environment.
Contact details:
Phone: +61 417 542 728
Email: hafez.alavi@haconsulting.com.au
The Project Control Group (PCG) provides operational support and scrutiny of the individual projects under the program of works. The PCG ensures access to jurisdictional resources, stakeholders, best practice, and road safety representatives.
Project Control Group Members
Sam Atabak
Principal Engineer (Design Services) | Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
Jo Cruickshank
Director Strategic Policy | Strategy, Policy and Legislation | Northern Territory Government
Beth Duncan
Director Road Safety Strategy and Analytics | Office of Road Safety Branch | Road and Vehicle Safety Division | Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
James Elton
Assistant Director | Road Safety Policy | Office of Road Safety
Ralston Fernandes
A/Director Data, Advice, Research and Testing | Transport Safety, Security & Emergency Management | Safety Environment and Regulation | Transport for NSW
Caoimhe Finn
Principal Policy Advisor at Road Safety Commission | Road Safety Commission Western Australia
Craig Hoey
Manager Road Safety Branch | Road User Services | Department of State Growth Tasmania
Carly Hunter
Road Safety Network Policy and Planning Lead | Road Safety Victoria | Department of Transport and Planning Victoria
Peter Kolesnik
A/Executive Director | Safer Roads Infrastructure | Engineering & Technology | Infrastructure Management and Delivery | Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
Richard Landon-Lane
Principal Traffic & Safety Engineer | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
Conor Macdonald
Senior Policy Advisor (Safer Road Users) | Policy, Safety and Regulation | Land Transport Safety and Regulation Branch | Customer Services, Safety & Regulation Division | Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
Fabian Marsh
Senior Manager Road Safety | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
David Moyses
Manager for Road Safety | Main Roads Western Australia
Beth Niemeier
Road Safety Policy, Strategy | Policy & Legislation | Northern Territory Government
Ashish Poudel
Lead Road Designer | Transport for NSW
Noelani Reardon PSM
Manager, Road Safety Strategy & Policy | Department for Infrastructure and Transport South Australia
Frances Stanford
Assistant Director | Road Safety and Active Travel | Strategic Policy and Programs | Transport Canberra and City Services | ACT Government
Kevin Vincent
Acting Inspector | Road Policing Strategy Unit | Road Policing Command | Victoria Police
Matthew Weatherby
Principal Policy Advisor (Safety) | The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
Brett Williams
Senior Traffic & Transport Coordinator | City of Onkaparinga, South Australia
Teresa Williams
Principal Policy Advisor | Budget and Investment Programming | Main Roads Western Australia
Expert Advisory Committee (EAC)
The Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) acts as a technical advisor. The EAC will ensure the project has access to the best and most up-to-date road safety knowledge and best practice.
Currently, the EAC consist of 11 members. They will provide advice and input on the project’s vision, rationale and measures of success, as well as identify major road safety and implementation challenges and opportunities to be addressed by the project.
The members of the committee have expertise in a broad range of road safety and public health areas. They come from a variety of backgrounds and bring with them a wealth of knowledge, experience, and dedication to saving lives on our roads.
The EAC membership is continually reviewed to accommodate the members’ availability, or to address potential conflict of interest, or to add new members to address emerging subject matter expertise needs.
The EAC is chaired by Eric Howard. The current members as of 6 July 2023 are:
Colin Brodie, Director of Colin Brodie Consulting, has worked in the roading industry for approaching 50 years, the last 26 specialising in road safety. Colin has recently retired as the Lead Advisor, Strategic Safety Interventions for the New Zealand Transport Agency. During his time there he helped develop the KiwiRAP star rating programme and numerous other award-winning road safety innovations such as rumble strips, wide centreline and rural intersection variable speed signs. He also led the development of the road safety improvement programmes for state highways local roads presently being rolled out across NZ.
Colin was a member of the Austroads Safety Task Force for over 12 years, helping guide the implementation of the Safe System and the development of numerous guides. He was also a member and contributing author of the OECD/ITF working group for the publication of the Zero Road Deaths & Serious Injuries research report in 2016. Since retiring from the NZ Transport Agency Colin has continued consulting part time and has been working with the Auckland Transport leadership team on understanding and embedding Vision Zero.
Samantha Cockfield, Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in Victoria. She has been involved in the road safety field since 1992, beginning as an economist working on the development and evaluation of accident blackspot programs, she has since developed behavioural programs including many of the TAC’s well-known public education campaigns. In her position, Samantha is responsible for the development and delivery of the TAC’s road safety strategy which spans road infrastructure, vehicle safety initiatives and a range of programs designed to improve road user behaviours. She has dedicated her career to the elimination of death and serious injury on the road – advocating for road safety both regionally and internationally. Sam has considerable experience in strategy development and in the successful delivery of large scale road safety programs.
Eric Howard AM, is Principal of Whiting Moyne, a Strategic Road Safety Advisory Consultancy operating internationally since 2006, when he completed 7 years as General Manager Road Safety with VicRoads, the lead road safety agency for the Victorian Government.
Eric has lead road safety management capacity reviews, drafted road safety strategies and provided road safety advice in more than 35 developed and developing countries, for governments, the World Bank, and other international institutions. He has lead Road Safety Management Leadership Programs with Monash University and through International Development Banks in recent years, co-authored many road safety manuals and continues to advise governments today.
He was the inaugural Chief Executive of the Shire of Yarra Ranges from 1994 and Deputy Chief Executive (Acting Chief Executive for most of 1990) and General Manager Operations/City Engineer, City of Melbourne from 1985. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and a Company Director’s Diploma from the University of New England, and in 2018 was awarded Australian Honours as a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to road transport safety through consultancy roles, to professional bodies, and to the community.
Eric and Mary have three adult children and six grandchildren.
Dr R.F. Soames Job is CEO and Principal of Global Road Safety Solutions Pty. Ltd. Soames has over 35 years of experience in road safety, having successfully headed government lead organisations in road safety, been a Professor in road safety and Health Psychology, and consulted for many development banks, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Standards Organisation (ISO), and the OECD, and has provided road safety guidance to over 100 countries and states.
Previous experience in Road Safety includes:
- Head of the Global Road Safety Facility, and Global Lead Road Safety with the World Bank.
- Executive Director of the National Road Safety Council of Australia
- Executive Director of the New South Wales Centre for Road Safety
- Fellow and National President of the Australasian College of Road Safety
- Adjunct Professor in Road Safety at the University of New South Wales
- Chair of the National Road Safety Executive Group
- Deputy Chairman of ANCAP (Australian New Car Assessment Program)
- Member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, and board member for various road safety organizations
- Director of the Health & Safety Psychology Research Unit, University of Sydney.
Mainly as member of a team, Soames has won 25 national and international awards in road safety and research, including 5 Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards. Soames was first listed in Who’s Who in 1997, and has over 500 scientific publications.
Dr Ingrid Johnston is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australasian College of Road Safety, the region’s peak membership association for road safety, with a vision of eliminating death and serious injuries on our roads. She has been working in public health for about 25 years, across all levels of government, academia and civil society, both in Australia and the UK. Ingrid is a passionate advocate for social justice and health, equity and prevention.
Ingrid completed her PhD on the adaptation of disaster response to climate change in remote Pacific islands and is a Director on the Board of the Climate and Health Alliance, a coalition of health care stakeholders with a mission to build a powerful health sector movement for climate action and sustainable healthcare.
Bringing these perspectives together, Ingrid sees road safety very much as a public health issue, not just an issue for the transport sector, and the potential for realising the co-benefits of solutions for health, the environment, climate change, quality of life, equity, and road safety.
Dr Sarah Jones is the Managing Director of boutique transport consulting firm Driven. Her previous roles include General Manager of Road Transport Safety and Compliance at logistics giant Toll Group, Project Director of Compliance and Technology at the National Transport Commission and Director of Reform in Licensing/Registration at the WA Department of Transport.
Dr Jones has a particular interest in the relationship between mental health and safety. She is an accredited mental health officer and recognised expert on the phenomenon of suicide by truck. Jones sits on the advisory board of Healthy Heads in Trucks and Sheds, the Steering Committee of the National Road Safety Partnership Program and the Truck and Bus Safety Committee at the Transportation Research Board in Washington.
When not mulling over vexing transport problems Dr Jones writes novels (as S.A. Jones) and hangs out with her teenage daughter and rescue dog of indeterminate age. Other important facts include her passion for history (the subject in which she has her PhD) and chardonnay. Her guilty pleasure is trashy shark films. She still feels awkward writing about herself in the third person.
Anders Lie is specialist in traffic safety. He has mainly been working for the Swedish Transport Administration. He has held his position there from 1995 to 2018. 2019 and 2020 he worked at the Swedish Ministry for Transport. There he was responsible for the program of the 3rd Global Ministerial on Road Safety held in February 2020. Anders Lie has a PhD in Epidemiology from Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Anders Lie has been an active partner in the development of the Vision Zero. From the start until 2018 he has been representing Sweden as a board member in the Euro NCAP crash test co-operation. Anders Lie has been active in the development of a Management System Standard for Traffic Safety (ISO 39000). Anders Lie has also been appointed as a part time adjunct professor at Chalmers University of Technology.
From his retirement Anders Lie has worked part time for AFRY developing the FIA Road Safety Index.
Prue is a specialist in active transport infrastructure and CPEng, with 20 years’ experience. She is the director of Sidelines Traffic, an advisor to Queensland Transport and Main Roads, and Chair of Engineers Australia, Women in Transport group.
Prue is committed to seeing Safe System principles make their way from theory to practice via the streams of technical training, project mentoring and capturing community road safety concerns. Her projects are small but powerful for the communities they influence. In her experience, Safe System principles can achieve the cut-through needed to satisfy practitioners due diligence requirements and implement change for vulnerable road users, project by project.
Prue has provided technical guidance and direction on active transport projects across Queensland, working closely with local government practitioners. Prue has delivered training and new technical guidelines for walking and cycling infrastructure. Children’s safety and parental road safety concerns are another focus. She’s delivered several school safety plans and developed methods to capture parental concerns and pinpoint infrastructure barriers.
Career highlights
- Authoring and presenting content from the Raised Priority Crossing Technical Guideline and observing widespread uptake of these treatments on the network (2019-ongoing).
- Contributing to publication of new technical guidance for raised crossings at roundabouts in Queensland.
- Capturing parental concerns to address walking and riding barriers to schools (2021-22).
- Successfully advocating for the inclusion of Safe System principles in the Queensland Street Design Manual.
Claes Tingvall is since 2015 retired from the Swedish Transport Administration, where he was Director of Traffic Safety for almost 20 years. He was instrumental in developing the policy called Vision Zero from the first day.
Claes Tingvall is an epidemiologist, and has a Dr Med Sc from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He is Professor in traffic safety at both Chalmers University of Technology on Gothenburg and Monash University Accident Research Centre in Melbourne (where he was Director and Professor 1998-2001). He also has a DSc from the Emory University in Atlanta, USA. He has published extensively on injury epidemiology, safety management and safety system effectiveness.
Claes Tingvall has been chairperson of EuroNCAP, ISO TC241 (ISO 39001) and more recently the Academic Expert Group for the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Road Safety (2020) in Stockholm. He is currently senior consultant (part time) at AFRY and involved in developing the FIA RS Index.
Jessica Truong is the Secretary General at the Towards Zero Foundation based in London, which includes the Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP). This role has allowed her to use her exceptional technical road safety knowledge, and her skills with policy, strategy, and communications to help advance the road safety journey of low-and-middle income countries.
She was a leader in the Towards Zero Foundation team which led the #50by30 campaign, one of the central advocacy collaborations in the lead up to the United Nations Resolution on Improving Global Road Safety in 2020, and led global projects to put road safety on the Commonwealth agenda which has resulted in active involvement in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Jeremy Woolley is a passionate advocate for establishing better responses to road safety amongst public and private sector organisations towards the realisation of virtual harm elimination by 2050. He is the director of the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) based at the University of Adelaide where he is privileged to lead a 20 strong multidisciplinary team investigating many areas of the Safe System approach. The Centre is grounded in in-depth crash investigation and pedestrian impact testing and has research activity that can be traced back to the 1960s. Jeremy has been heavily involved in road safety capacity building and knowledge transfer and is familiar with the common challenges facing researchers, NGOs, practitioners, bureaucrats and political leaders.
He has been involved with the formulation and review of many road safety strategies and actions plans that seek to embrace the Safe System approach. With a background in road and traffic engineering his collaborations over time have allowed him to evolve as a road safety generalist with good knowledge of the many traditional disciplines and stakeholders from which road safety is viewed.
Dr Johan Strandroth is a civil engineer with a Master and PhD in Machine and Vehicle Safety Systems. He is the Principal at Strandroth Inc and a senior advisor in road safety target management and strategy development with specialist capabilities in crash data modelling and in-depth crash investigation. During his time in the Swedish Transport Administration, Johan developed methodologies that now are the foundation of the analytical framework and target management system for Sweden’s Vision Zero approach.
Over the past five years, Johan has supported companies, organisations and governments in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Central and Southeast Asia as a Senior Road Safety Specialist through the Global Road Safety Partnership and the Asian Development Bank.
Relevant for this project, Johan has developed the Zero by 2050 and Vision Zero Planning frameworks for Victoria, New South Wales and New Zeeland though his own consultancy and through Lösningar Pty Ltd, together with Jessica Truong and Kenn Beer.
