SOUTH YORKSHIRE SAFER ROADS PARTNERSHIP (SYSRP)
Working together for Safer Roads
Every death or serious injury on our roads is preventable — and none are acceptable.
The South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership (SYSRP) was formed in October 2009 with a single aim: to make the region’s roads safer by reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSIs) in road traffic collisions.
The multi-agency partnership is made up of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Councils, South Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and National Highways.
Together, we combine expertise, resources, and local knowledge to drive meaningful change.
Partners have adopted a Vision Zero approach to road safety and are committed to working towards a future where no one is killed or seriously injured on South Yorkshire’s roads.
Our interim target is a 20% reduction in all KSIs by 2029.
We will strive to achieve this by following a Safe System approach which is underpinned by shared responsibility. To this end, the Partnership is currently reviewing its structure and operations, strengthening governance, accountability and day to-day working practices.
The current picture:
Every year, around 40 people are killed in a collision on South Yorkshire roads. Almost 800 are seriously injured. This is devastating and we must not underestimate the pain, grief and suffering caused by every crash.
The trauma caused by collisions ripples throughout communities, schools and families – many of whose lives are changed forever.
Dangerous road user behaviour creates fear, restricts choices and prevents people from getting the most out of their neighbourhoods.
This is just not acceptable. We recognise that people will always make mistakes, but those mistakes should not end in devastating consequences. Everyone has a responsibility to make our roads safe for all.
National approach
Earlier this year, the Government published the first National Road Safety Strategy in over a decade.
The strategy sets out ambitious targets to reduce the number of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads by 65% by 2035, increasing to 70% for children (0-16).
Here in South Yorkshire, we welcome this renewed focus on road safety and are working with partners and communities to create our own integrated action plan.
To achieve this, we are undertaking a review of our work across the county, as well as speaking to people about their experiences of navigating the local transport network.
We are building a strong pipeline of priorities, with investment from the Transport for City Regions fund, including reducing excess speed on our network, improving our roads and roadsides, delivering behavioural change campaigns and ensuring that the voices of our communities are at the centre of our plans.
By working in partnership with organisations, communities, and individuals, we can create safer roads for everyone in South Yorkshire.
Because no loss of life on our roads is acceptable.
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The Safe System
The Safe System is a globally recognised approach to road safety. Rather than focusing on who is to blame after a collision, it looks at how deaths and serious injuries can be prevented in the first place.
The approach stems from the Vision Zero ambition that every road death or serious injury is preventable and is built upon two basic facts about people:
1. People make mistakes and will make mistakes when on the roads
2. People are vulnerable to being killed or seriously injured if they are involved in a crash.
The Safe System recognises these facts and seeks to design them out of the equation.
South Yorkshire adopted the Safe System as part of its Safer Roads Strategy in 2022. This approach is reflected in the National Road Safety Strategy published in January this year (2026).
Five key themes of the Safe System
