Towards an Integrated Road Safety Management: The Institutional-Strategy-Environment (ISE) Model

Abstract

The safe system approach is considered the best practice. Different international organizations highly recommend the implementation of such an approach to significantly improve their road safety performance. The safe system has become a normative approach, a way of thinking. It rests upon different pillars, which represent the framework to be implemented. Among the different dimensions, the management pillar is crucial, which calls for a detailed investigation. First, the aim of this contribution is to understand the implications and requirements of implementing a safe system management model (SSMM). This contribution presents this model and challenges its aims and its limits, especially the promoted management framework. Six main limits of the SSMM are discussed. The different limits of the SSMM emphasize the importance of thinking about singularities and contingencies of the institutional order as well as considering and understanding the context in which a policy is implemented. Second, this contribution proposes an alternative conceptual approach applied to the managerial dimension of the road safety system. It develops the institutional-strategy-environment (ISE) model for elaborating road safety public strategy. This conceptual elaboration is based both on a proven theoretical corpus and on numerous field observations, and expert activities carried out in various countries. The ISE dimensions are essential because they are seldom discussed, even though they are the underpinning of more and more public road safety policies. In this respect, this contribution proposes an alternative approach by considering these three interdependent dimensions. The institutional dimension rests upon a layered approach, while strategy is considered with an adapted SWOT matrix. The environmental dimension is assessed with a Pestel model. The application of such an approach to the road safety field and to test its explanatory power is particularly challenging but opens new avenues for implementing road safety public policy.