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• In Australia over 1,000 people are killed each year on the roads, and more than 5,000 sustain serious injuries.
• Across the world there are over 1.3 million people killed and it is estimated that over 10 million will be seriously injured.
• We can design roads to be safer. We can reduce the chance of a crash, and the severity of any that still occur.

Road Safety Audits (RSAs) are an established and proven practice around the world. They reduce death and serious injury in the transport realm. The practice of undertaking RSAs has been successfully operating in world leading road safety jurisdictions (such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand) for over 20 years, and has more recently gained traction in the USA.
This was an intensive technical training course designed for those with experience in Road Safety Auditing and looking to step up and lead the industry.

I’ve just successfully completed the Making Roads Motorcycle Friendly technical training course run by Safe System Solutions. Why did I do this training:

• Motorcyclists are overrepresented in road trauma. They represent around 3% of travel but make up over 17% of fatal and serious injuries.
• We have a duty-of-care to do what we reasonably can to protect these road users.
• We can design roads and roadsides to be safer for motorcyclists. There’s lots that can be done in road design, operation, maintenance and management, and this course outlined them well.
• This was an intensive 2-module online technical training course with live and interactive webinars, theory, quizzes and case studies.

Road Safety Audits (RSAs) involve an independent, qualified team reviewing a road, street, or path project to identify safety risks. RSAs have provided road safety assurance in Australia and New Zealand since the early 1990s and are now widely adopted worldwide.

An often-overlooked but critical part of the RSA process is its management. A strong understanding of the process ensures RSAs deliver value, maintain industry confidence, and continue to improve. That’s why I completed the one-day Managing Road Safety Audits course with Safe System Solutions. This course covers best-practice RSA management and includes real-world examples, exercises, and case studies to help identify process deficiencies.

RSAs are a powerful tool for maximising the safety benefits of any public infrastructure project.

Raised Pedestrian Crossings, also known as Wombat Crossings, are highly effective Safe System treatments. They significantly reduce vehicle speeds approaching crossing points, elevate pedestrians to a height that enhances driver visibility, and provide step-free crossings that stand out in a driver’s field of vision. However, designing raised crossings can present challenges.

In this interactive online course delivered by Safe System Solutions in partnership with JTG Road Engineering, I acquired comprehensive knowledge and skills in all aspects of raised crossing design. This included positioning, ramp grades, drainage, lighting, pavement, signage, construction materials and more.

I’ve just successfully completed the Safe Cycling Infrastructure technical training course run by Safe System Solutions. Why did I do this training:

• Each year in Australia around 40 people riding their bikes are killed and more than 4,000 are hospitalised in road crashes.
• Riding a bike is a sustainable, healthy and socially equitable form of transport, and we need more people riding. Unfortunately, unsafe infrastructure is a major impediment to many people riding.
• We can design roads to be safer. We can reduce the chance of a crash, and the severity of any that still occur.
• This was an intensive online technical training course with theory, coursework, and a field exercise where we put our skills into practice.

I’ve just successfully completed the Safe System Audit technical training course run by Safe System Solutions. Why did I do this training:

• In Aotearoa over 300 people are killed each year on the roads, and more than 2,000 sustain serious injuries.
• We can design roads to be safer. We can reduce the chance of a crash, and the severity of any that still occur.
• Safe System Audits are a wonderful way to inject safety into road and street designs.
• Safe System Audits are now a mandatory part of Waka Kotahi investments.

This was an intensive 6-module online technical training course with live and interactive webinars, theory, coursework, and a field exercise where we put our auditing skills into practice.

I’ve just successfully completed the Safe System Crash Investigation course run by Safe System Solutions and Strandroth Inc.

The technical program went into details on how crash investigation and reconstruction works, and how we can look at crashes from a system failure perspective rather than a blame perspective.

The course involved live online training modules with experts from Australia and Sweden. It also involved looking at police crash reports and crash scenes to determine failures in the system.

I just completed the Safe System for Local Government training run by the TAC and Safe System Solutions.

As part of this course, I learnt the fundamentals of Safe System Assessments. They are a proactive approach to road safety that identifies positive road safety elements and treatments, and encourages innovation in design.

Safe System Assessments are also granular in their scoring, which lends itself to step-change treatments, not minor improvements. They look at all road users, can consider multiple design options in a single assessment, and investigate vehicles, people, and post-crash care along with an in-depth review of the physical infrastructure.

I found the course to be extremely informative and valuable. I am now better equipped to help make our roads safe for everyone. I highly recommend this course to anyone in local government – there’s so much we can do to help keep our community safe on the roads and streets.

The Safe System underpins road safety strategies across Australia, New Zealand, and beyond. It is a proven approach to reducing death and serious injury in road transport. While much attention is given to its pillars (safe roads, vehicles, speeds, road users, and post-crash care) these are simply levers that put its core principles into action. As our roads and cities evolve, new pillars may emerge, but the fundamental principles of the Safe System remain unchanged.

I recently completed the Safe System Principles training course with Safe System Solutions Pty Ltd, gaining a deeper understanding of these principles and practical insights for their application.