Getting a “W” for Safety: Flipping the Script on the Safety “E”s in Search of a Winning Strategy

Abstract

As we enter the second decade of Vision Zero in the U.S., this paper emphasizes the continuing need to move beyond traditional safety silos and strategies. Historically, transportation safety has relied on the “E”s of safety—engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency services—to react to historic crash patterns, based on crash report data and benefit/cost analysis. The Safe System Approach represents a pivotal shift from those silos toward a system-based, proactive paradigm. While the Safe System Approach has garnered substantial funding and support in the U.S., its implementation can still revert to the traditional and isolated “E”s mindset. This reversion misses the necessary hierarchy of roles and treatments, as well as fundamental inputs to the transportation system. This paper argues that mitigating kinetic energy transfer—the root cause of roadway injuries and deaths—must be central when selecting and prioritizing programs, policies, practices, and partnerships. With a more nuanced and targeted focus on the kinetic energy components, exposure, likelihood, and severity, the Safe System Approach can more effectively mitigate risk. Referencing the Safe Systems Pyramid, this paper explores common limitations of the Safe System Approach through a public health lens, with a hierarchy emphasizing population-scale interventions over individual efforts. In alignment with the pyramid, this paper proposes a new “W”s of Transportation Safety Framework that examines “who, what, when, where, and why” prompts to illuminate the base of the pyramid elements of systemic risk. This comprehensive view unlocks new safety tools and partnerships, highlighting the importance of upstream interventions such as land use planning, multimodal transportation options, and affordable housing. The paper concludes with practical applications of the “W”s framework, illustrating its potential to transform roadway design and safety assessments. By institutionalizing these strategies, transportation practitioners can find a fresh set of tools, and hopefully refreshed motivation, funding, partners, and purpose, in support of Vision Zero 2.0.