Pedestrian safety is a critical concern in urban environments, where roadway and infrastructure design often places vulnerable road users at risk of injury when interacting with vehicles. Adopting both systemic and systematic safety approaches is crucial to mitigate these risks and protect all road users. The word “systemic” means “of, or relating to, a system” as a whole (MasterClass, 2021). A systemic approach to traffic safety would involve analyzing data to identify common risk patterns and underlying factors across the transportation network. The word “systematic” means “having, showing, or involving a system or plan” (MasterClass, 2021). A systematic approach to traffic safety might involve the development and implementation of a plan to address collisions on the roadway network. Prioritizing high-crash locations for improvements would be one systematic approach, but to address the root causes of crashes, the risks identified in those locations would be used to examine the system as a whole. This could lead to a different systematic application of low-cost, proven safety countermeasures across the transportation network based on factors like roadway characteristics and land uses, so that the systemic risks can be addressed. This document reviews existing frameworks and case studies that embody both systemic and systematic methods to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. This review emphasizes the importance of collecting and analyzing crash data, identifying systemic practices, and developing an implementation framework that highlights implementation challenges and recommendations. Understanding systemic safety and developing systematic evidence-based practices could enhance the design, operation, and management of transportation systems to better accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists.
Read full report: Systemic and Systematic Countermeasures for Vulnerable Road User Safety: A Review
New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center. (2025). Systemic and Systematic Countermeasures for Vulnerable Road User Safety: A Review. Retrieved from https://njbikeped.org/systemic-and-systematic-countermeasures-for-vulnerable-road-user-safety-a-review-2025/
