The Community Traffic Safety Program is ground ZERO for Target Zero! The Northeast Florida Community Traffic Safety Teams work to connect, interact, plan, design, educate, and solve traffic safety concerns as part of Target Zero.

Northeast Florida Traffic Safety

The Florida Department of Transportation is focused on Target Zero and employing the Safe System Approach in plans and projects. Everyone needs to share in the responsibility; everyone has a role!

FDOT District Two’s Community Traffic Safety Program has targeted traffic safety issues in Northeast Florida since 1994. We collaborate and solve local traffic safety concerns through education, enforcement, engineering, and emergency services. Click here to learn more about the CTSP and District Two Community Traffic Safety Teams.

Learn more about Florida’s Target Zero

On average, eight people are killed, and 49 are seriously injured on Florida’s roads daily. In most of those severe and fatal crashes, driver behavior is a contributing factor. This initiative focuses on connecting, interacting, and designing our transportation system to specifically relate to those (drivers) most involved in crashes resulting in serious injuries and fatalities.

In Florida, Target Zero builds upon the Vision Zero belief by focusing on influencing dangerous driver behaviors before serious and fatal crashes occur. Target Zero aligns resources and establishes actions for all safety partners to take evolutionary steps to improve how Florida connects, interacts, plans, designs, operates and maintains its transportation system.

Eliminating roadway fatalities is our highest priority. We recognize that achieving zero deaths and serious injuries will not be easy and will require commitment, energy, and innovation. Together, we can make progress to achieve our target of ZERO.  

Zero is our goal. A Safe System is how we will get there.

To address the high number of fatal and serious injuries resulting from vehicle crashes, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has made a commitment to zero deaths by adopting the Safe System Approach. This holistic view of the road system anticipates human mistakes and keeps impact energy on the human body at tolerable levels. Safety is an ethical imperative for everyone, including users, designers, and owners of the transportation system.

The Safe System Approach is based on six principles:

• Death and serious injury are not acceptable.
• Humans make mistakes.
• Humans are vulnerable.
• Responsibility is shared.
• Safety is proactive.
• Redundancy is crucial.

Five elements that work together for a safer and more accessible transportation system that aim to reduce severe injuries and fatalities:

• Safer Roadways – This includes design and planning to make roadways more forgiving of human mistakes by separating users in time and space. Examples include dedicated bicycle lanes or the implementation of pedestrian scrambles where only pedestrians are given dedicated time and space to navigate intersections.
• Safer Speeds – The magnitude of speed is directly correlated to the survivability of a crash. Mitigation examples include implementing countermeasures such as lane narrowing or speed feedback signage or designing context-based roadways that set “target speed” goals to ensure that if a crash occurs, it is at a speed at which humans can survive.
• Safer Road Users – This includes ALL road users and encompasses shared responsibility. Users must practice safe behavior, such as using raised medians that protect pedestrians when crossing and make them more visible.
• Safer Vehicles – Employing safety measures in vehicles that help prevent crashes or reduce the magnitude of a crash can reduce fatalities and serious injuries. Examples include autonomous braking, lane departure warnings, and driver alcohol detection systems.
• Post-Crash Care – This can ensure that when a crash occurs, the proper emergency response is deployed, and all traffic incident management systems work in unison. This includes the integration of emergency vehicle preemption or automatic crash notification systems.

Safe System Approach vs. Traditional Road Safety Practices

Whereas traditional road safety strives to modify human behavior and prevent all crashes, the Safe System approach also refocuses transportation system design and operation on anticipating human mistakes and lessening impact forces to reduce crash severity and save lives.

Additional information and resources available:

• FHWA Safe System Approach Brochure
• FDOT’s Target Zero Agency Resources