Managing Speed in the Safe System   

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  • Course code : RS-A7
  • Delivery: Online/Live

  • Language: English 
  • Starting Date:
    13 october 2026
  • Registration Deadline:
    TBD
  • Total Duration:
    12 Hours (4x3 hours classes) 
  • Price :
    IRF Members : 850 CHF
    Others : 1100 CHF


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This practical course equips engineers, road authorities, police agencies and transport
professionals with the tools needed to diagnose speed-related risk, select evidence-based
interventions and evaluate their effectiveness. Drawing on international case studies from both
high-income and low- and middle-income countries, participants will learn how to develop
speed management programmes that are technically robust, politically feasible and financially
realistic
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Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will be able to :

Explain the relation ship between speed, kinetic energy and survivable crashes.

Apply international good practise to urban streets, rural roads and high-speed corridors. 

Diagnose speed related risk using crash data, conflict analysis and emerging digital tools.


Select engineering and enforcement measures appropriate to different road environments.

Target Audience

Road Safety agencies
MDB project teams
Traffic police leadership
Engineering firms

Course Structure

Class 1 : Understanding Speed Risk: From Physics to Policy

Why speed remains the most important variable in road safety
Key topics:
• Why managing speed is central to the Safe System
• Human tolerance to crash forces
• Speed and crash severity
• Appropriate versus excessive speed
• Setting Safe Speed thresholds
• Global trends in speed-related fatalities
• Foundational approaches to effective speed enforcement
• Building a national Safe Speed strategy
• Innovation spotlight: how leading agencies are moving away from simply measuring
speeds towards predicting where speed-related crashes are likely to occur

Class 2 : Diagnosing Speed Problems Using Data  

Turning information into engineering decisions
Key topics:
• Speed data collection methods:
o Traditional surveys,
o Floating / Connected vehicle datasets
o Crowd-sourced navigation data
• AI-assisted crash & conflict analysis
• Network screening & black spot analysis
• Dashboards for road agencies
• Innovation Spotlight: how AI can support engineering judgement.

Class 3 : Engineering Roads for Safe Speeds

Designing roads that encourage appropriate speeds
Key topics:
• Self-explaining roads
• Speed management through design
• Movement and Place Framework
• Road diets, Gateway treatments & Traffic calming
Rural vs. urban speed management
• School zone treatments
• Speed and roadside design
• Speed management during roadworks
• Innovation Spotlight: Low-cost engineering interventions for LMICs

Class 4 :  Delivering Integrated Speed Management Programmes

From isolated interventions to sustained results
Key topics:
• Speed enforcement technologies: fixed, mobile, and point-to-point/average-speed
cameras
• Deterrence theory, enforcement visibility and publicity effects
• Legal, judicial and institutional frameworks for enforcement
• Public acceptance, communication and community engagement strategies
• Combining Engineering, Enforcement & Education
• Institutional coordination
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Performance indicators, Crash Modification Factors, Before-
after studies
• Funding priorities
• Framework adjustments optimise the road safety effect of enforcement'
• Implementation roadmaps
• Capstone exercise: Participants develop a Safe Speed Action Plan

Course Instructors : 

Ali Zayerzade

Ali Zayerzadeh is an internationally recognised road safetyspecialist with over 20 years of experience in the developmentand implementation of Safe System policies, speedmanagement programmes and evidence-based road safetystrategies. He has led major national initiatives spanning speedenforcement, crash data analysis, blackspot management andvulnerable road user safety, and has advised governments andinternational organisations across Europe, Asia and the MiddleEast. 

Eur Ing Miguel-Angel Serrano Santos

MEng (Hons) CEng MICE CMgr MCMI FCIHT FSoRSA FASEVI

Miguel-Angel Serrano Santos is a distinguished Chartered CivilEngineer and internationally recognised authority in road safety.A graduate of the University of Granada in Spain, he currentlyserves as Lead Trainer for the International Road Federation.. 

Philip Wijers

Philip J. Wijers, Director Government Affairs, Sensys GatsoGroup – Traffic Enforcement. In 2010 he started in his currentposition as Director Government Affairs at Sensys Gatso Group.In close cooperation with government organisations SensysGatso Group’s traffic enforcement systems enhance roadsafety, contribute to better quality of life, a greener, more quieturban environment and an optimised traffic flow.

Alina F. Burlacu

Alina Burlacu is a Senior Transport Specialist with the Latin American and Caribbean Transport Unit. Before her current role, she was part of the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) team, where she led the speed management agenda, managed the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) program spreading across 15 countries, and spearheaded road safety work with a diverse portfolio of governments, working at the nexus of numerous national, municipal and local governments in East-Asia Pacific and West and Central Africa.
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