MAG launches Welcoming Roads – a new vision for road safety

Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is today launching a new vision for road safety.  “Welcoming Roads” is an evolution of Vision Zero (VZ).  It promotes safer roads for all road user groups including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, horse riders and, of course, motorcyclists.

Improvements in UK road casualty statistics have stalled. For many years, MAG has voiced significant concerns about elements of the VZ brand.  We support aspects of the VZ approach but believe that the ideological goal of zero casualties falls short of the test of pragmatism.  Our proposal seeks to preserve the successful aspects of VZ whilst shedding unhelpful ‘baggage’. We believe this could break the stagnation currently encountered by the VZ philosophy.

MAG has created a manifesto detailing the vision, and is distributing it to road safety professionals and stakeholder groups to generate debate.   We will welcome any offers to help refine and develop the proposal.

MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said: “This proposal is not an attack on Vision Zero.  Nor do we deny that more needs to be done to improve safety on our roads.  The vision to end all road casualties is laudable, but I fear that in the real world it is seen as impractical and unachievable by many.  Casualties occur in the imperfect real world.  Ignoring this obvious fact can lead to a rejection of efforts to improve safety.

There is much baggage that comes with the ideological aspect of the current Vision Zero mantra.  Certainly for many motorcyclists there is a feeling that their safety gets neglected in a rush to promote active transport modes.  I do not believe this is the intent, but perception is critical - especially when the goal is to change behaviours.”

MAG is calling on all interested parties to enter into debate on the merits of the proposed vision.  We hope that it will be received as a positive contribution to road safety for all road users.

The Welcoming Roads vision manifesto can be found here: https://bit.ly/WelcomeRoads2021