Once you have widespread interest and support from your local Councillors and other elected representatives (eg MPs), they may feel that it is time for the Local Authority to back the Vision Zero policy by taking a motion to Council Assembly with a view to its being adopted. Below are some ideas that might form the basis of a motion to adopt Vision Zero.
“This Council notes in [INSERT MOST RECENT YEAR THAT DATA IS AVAILABLE] [INSERT] people were killed or seriously injured on its roads and that this is only [INSERT]% lower than the number in 2010. This Council believes that too little is being done to reduce the numbers of casualties on its roads.
In addition, these levels of casualties are contributing to many people choosing to drive short journeys rather than choosing to walk and cycle, which is in turn reducing the ability to tackle:
- high levels of inactivity and poor public health;
- poor air quality owing to an excessive reliance on short journeys by motor vehicle; and
- rising carbon emissions from road transport.
Almost all other forms of transport now have extremely low or zero levels of casualties associated with their use. This Council believes that, in relation to road transport, the only justifiable target should be that in the longer term no one is killed or seriously injured on the roads that is manages.
This Council believes that it should adopt a Vision Zero approach to road danger that incorporates four key principles:
- Safety: Road traffic systems should take account of the fact that people make mistakes and should minimise both the opportunity for error and the harm done when they do occur.
- Ethics: Human life and health have highest priority.
- Responsibility: We must all be ready to change to achieve a safe environment on our roads and there is a particular responsibility for change and reduction of danger amongst those whose modes of travel create the highest levels of risk.
- Active travel: A Vision Zero approach must also enable healthy, clean forms of transport such as cycling and walking.
This Council notes that Vision Zero requires a number of changes over the longer term so that our streets offer a fairer balance between people and motor vehicles. These changes include less traffic, slower speeds, safe street design, safe space for cycling, safe junctions and crossings, safe vehicles and safe behaviour by road users backed up by robust enforcement.
This Council calls on the administration to take a bold approach to the safety of those travelling on its roads and especially those are the most vulnerable – people on foot, people cycling and people on motorcycles. We need:
- an ambitious target that by [INSERT YEAR] no one will be killed or seriously injured on our roads;
- a clear Vision Zero action plan (using changes listed above) that drives progress on safety;
- political will to make difficult decisions; and
- clear leadership to build the momentum to improve our roads and streets.
Vision Zero principles will change public perception about road danger, so that death and injury is no longer an inevitable part of our lives as we move around, but something that can be avoided if a serious and sustained effort is made to tackle the causes of the problem.”