WJ | WJ backs Brake’s call for Safe System this Road Safety Week

To coincide with Road Safety Week, from 19 to 25 November 2023, WJ Group is backing calls from road safety organisation, Brake, for Safe System principles to be rolled out across more of the UK’s road network.

The Safe System is an approach to road safety based on the belief that road casualties can be reduced by taking steps to minimise the risk of human error, encompassing roads, speed, vehicles, road users and post-crash care.

The roads element of the Safe System calls for various design features, such as the improved segregation of different types of road users, as well as “self-explaining” roads, which ensure drivers understand intuitively what is expected of them.

The Safe System is already in use by National Highways across the strategic road network, and many local authorities, but has not yet been adopted by the government for use more widely across the rest of the network. It is also at the heart of Vision Zero, a not-for-profit initiative to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries by 2040.

Over the last three decades, WJ has been at the forefront of technological developments that have improved safety on the UK’s roads, including the innovative Weatherline range, a series of durable and high visibility thermoplastic line markings, encompassing Weatherline, Weatherline Plus and Weatherline Ultra. WJ is also an innovator in the use of road studs and high-friction surfaces that maximise the safety of road users.

Wayne Johnston, CEO at WJ Group, said: “Brake is right to have highlighted the importance of road design within the Safe System. Human error is major cause of collisions across the road network. Too often it has been assumed that these errors are unavoidable when, in fact, technology and design can be used to substantially mitigate the risks.

“High quality road markings reduce the scope for error on the part of all road users because they make safety-critical information, such as lane or give-way lines, as clear as possible. They are also highly cost-effective, realising a significant return on investment when considering there is an estimated economic cost of £1.9 million associated with a fatality on the network.”

WJ has a track record of backing innovations in the use of road markings to reduce collisions. In conjunction with Transport Scotland and BEAR Scotland, it helped deliver the PRIME (Perceptual Rider Information for Maximising Expertise and Enjoyment) Road Markings trial in Scotland, a scheme designed on the Safe System principles, which successfully tested a novel approach to reduce collisions involving motorcyclists at 22 sites that had been highlighted as particularly dangerous.

Across those 22 sites, WJ marked “gates” on the road surface designed and positioned by the research team to encourage motorcyclists to take the safest line through the corner at the correct speed. Researchers found statistically significant improvements in collision data at 18 locations, and positive trends at another 3 over the three years of the trial, which was led by road safety expert, Professor Alan Stedman.

Wayne added: “The PRIME trial is a clear example of how improvements to road design, based on the imaginative and effective use of road markings can have a significant positive impact on road safety. It offers clear evidence that the approach to road safety outlined in the Safe System can be highly effective.

“I am proud that we are backing Brake’s call for the Safe System to be adopted more widely across the UK.”

To find out more about WJ’s involvement in the PRIME trial, visit: https://www.wj.uk/projects/prime-project/.