Safety & Security Working Group: Framing Road Safety Policy

When it comes to road safety, how we talk about danger, speed and right of way is pivotal. Our language frames how perceive, and then tackle mobility related danger.

There have been a range of- very innovative- initiatives which have aimed to transform how we discuss the topic, but what is left to be achieved?

On 22 June, 2021, 22 June - 10.00-12.00 CET, POLIS Safety and Security working group will convene to discuss all. Speakers from Bilbao, Moscow, The International Pedestrian Federation, as well as journalist Laura Laker, will join for this much needed discussion.

We want to improve Road Safety in our cities and regions. We’re well aware of effective measures, that have been successful with others, and could work for us. We want to leap forward. And yet, we know that ‘wanting’ is not enough.

Clear commitments are indispensable, but they have to be matched by coherent measures, that can be easily understood, respected, implemented and enforced. And they have to be supported by a communication strategy that doesn’t fan the flames of car-centric public revolt.

The changes needed to make urban mobility more sustainable, and safe, can quickly become a hot and highly contested topic. As experience shows (and science explains), facts can be ignored, rationality doesn’t necessarily prevail, and public opinion can interpret public measures and intentions in radically different ways.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything about it – quite the contrary! This meeting will be very practice-oriented.

We will:

• Learn how different cities are shaping and communicating their low speed limit policies;
• Understand how we can avoid shooting ourselves in the foot with the wrong words, the wrong metaphors, and the wrong communication habits

Please note: Our Working Group meetings are open to POLIS members only. For more information regarding membership please contact our Membership Manager, Pasquale Cancellara.