Scotland has set an ambitious goal to become a world leader in road safety, aiming for zero deaths or serious injuries by 2050. To support this, Transport Scotland has commissioned a national Safe System Manual designed to help practitioners understand, adopt and apply Safe System principles consistently across the country. The manual has been shaped through extensive collaboration, including workshops with Scottish and international experts, to determine what content is essential, how it should be delivered and how it can remain relevant over time. These sessions explored practical needs across all Safe System components and road safety management considerations.

The development process included systematic prioritisation of material to identify the most important topics, understand gaps in global reference material and highlight areas requiring careful authorship. The emerging manual has been delivered through an accessible online platform supported by coaching, webinars, short learning sessions and a wider communications programme to build a strong practitioner community. The content guides users through core Safe System principles using practical operational content, while also addressing cultural factors that influence safety, such as organisational behaviour, advocacy and public perception. Overall, the project reflects Scotland’s commitment to investing in its practitioners and creating authoritative, practical guidance capable of driving long‑term, system‑wide improvement in road safety.

Matt Staton, Agilysis

Matt has more than 15 years’ experience working in highway authorities in the UK spanning policy, research and intervention design, delivery and evaluation at both local and national level.