Improvements to Road Safety: amendment

STATES OF JERSEY

IMPROVEMENTS TO ROAD SAFETY

(P.5/2021) – AMENDMENT

Lodged au Greffe on 19th February 2021 by the Minister for Infrastructure Earliest date for debate: 2nd March 2021

STATES GREFFE

2021  P.5 Amd.

IMPROVEMENTS IN ROAD SAFETY (P.5/2021) – AMENDMENT

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1  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

Insert the following new paragraph and re-designate the existing paragraphs accordingly –

"(a)  to request the Minister for Infrastructure to undertake a structural review of Road Safety in the Island in order to identify ways of improving road safety, with a focus on the needs of vulnerable road users, and to publish its initial findings with strategic policy recommendations by the end of 2021; and".

2  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

After the word "Infrastructure" for the words "to bring forward legislation and appropriate changes to" substitute the words "to review existing legislation and" and, after the words "Highway Code to" for the word "introduce" substitute the words "identify the benefits of introducing".

3  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (b) –

Delete paragraph (b).

MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

1. to request the Minister for Infrastructure toundertake a structural review of Road Safety in the Island in order to identify ways of improving road safety, with a focuson the needs of vulnerable road users, and to publish its initial findings with strategic policy recommendations by the end of 2021; and
2. to request the Minister for Infrastructure to review existing legislation and the Island's Highway Code to identify the benefits of introducing a hierarchy of responsibility for road users, based on the level of risk presented to road users in the event of a collision.
3. to establish a body to review legislation, infrastructure and good practice guidancein Jersey in order to identify ways of improving road safety, especially for vulnerable road users, and to report its findings and recommendations to theMinister by the end of 2021.

REPORT

In late 2016, we published the Road Safety Action Plan 2017-2019. This plan set out a series of actions to address a range of road safety concerns, however it is now time to bring our thinking and understanding of road safety up to date with international good practise. In order to do this, we need to amend the proposition so that it is the enabler for us to achieve this.

Part (a) of this proposition has therefore been amended to undertake a rank-and-file review of road safety. This will cover strategic, tactical and operational processes currently in place and identify a framework which will set the Island's vision for road safety going forward. This important piece of work will bring Jersey to the forefront of road safety and enable us to lead by example when asking islanders to play their part in the shared responsibility of keeping the roads safe for all users.

In order to undertake such a comprehensive review, we are ideally placed to structure this work through adoption of a safe system approach, focusing on safer roads, safer vehicles and safer people, to maximise the opportunities to reduce the number of casualties on our roads.

The safe system approach would be a commitment to the principles which put safety at the core of planning and policy, design and engineering without adversely affecting operational requirements. To make the system effective it must be integral to every decision we make and become business as usual. It relies on building and maintaining strong relationships with other organisations such as Driver and Vehicle Standards, the Police, the Parishes, road safety stakeholders, other departments as well as vehicle manufacturers and motor organisations.

Part (b) has been amended to show the true order of how this work needs to be undertaken. The Department for Transport is currently undertaking a similar piece of work and is preparing their response to consultation on introducing such a hierarchy within the Highway Code, so it seems prudent to await their outcome and use this intelligence to inform our own decisions. We do however support the principle of this.

What is the safe system?

This approach is underpinned by four fundamental principles:

• People make mistakes that can lead to collisions.

• The human body has a known, limited physical ability to tolerate collision forces before harm occurs.

• While drivers  have a responsibility to act with care to the law, a shared responsibility exists with those who design, build, manage, maintain and use roads and vehicles to prevent collisions resulting in serious injury or death. There is also a responsibility for authorities to provide post-crash care.

• All parts of the system must be strengthened in combination to multiply their effects and road users are still protected if one part fails.

Therefore, we must all take responsibility for ensuring we do everything we can to reduce the number of incidents and casualties on the road network. The safe system will move us away from the traditional road safety delivery model of a reactive fixing approach once collisions and casualties have occurred to a preventative intelligence led delivery model, working with partners and stakeholders to achieve safety ambitions.

Ministerial Recommendation

States Members are recommended to accept this proposition.

Financial and manpower implications

There is staff resource available to undertake the work within existing budgets and indeed, work on this theme is identified in the Sustainable Transport Strong Start Active Travel' rapid plan.