The Challenge

How can we make roads safer?

Too many people are dying and suffering injuries on our roads. We need to make our roads safer, looking at our entire system - the roads, the vehicles, road users and travel speeds.

Professor Wegman's vast experience will help us to tackle this very difficult problem. The Netherlands is one of the best performing countries in terms of road safety with a fatality rate some 40 per cent lower than in South Australia.

This is largely due to the ‘sustainable safety' approach they've adopted, which aims to make road use safe for everyone, prevent crashes from occurring and reduce crash severity.

If South Australia could achieve the same low rate of road fatalities per head of population as the Netherlands, 40-50 lives would potentially be saved each year.

While in Adelaide, Fred will contribute to the next State Road Safety Strategy (2011 - 2020), and specific road safety initiatives for South Australia.

He will look at strategies to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, especially in regional South Australia, and promote a culture of safe road use among the community.

Fred will establish links between state and local government initiatives on road safety. He will look at ways road safety considerations can be integrated into the vision of the Greater Adelaide 30-Year Plan, other transport and built environment initiatives, and the reform agendas for health and ageing.

Fred will support road safety research in South Australia, developing opportunities for international cooperative research.

Fred Wegman began his residency in May 2010, and will return for a second visit later in the year.