The guidance, published on 6 November 2025, sets out 16 specific street-layout and infrastructure risks that present an increased collision hazard for people walking, wheeling or cycling. 

It provides a practical reference for local authorities, highways professionals and designers to identify and eliminate what are described as ‘critical safety issues’ on the public highway: situations where street layouts or conditions pose an increased risk of collisions for people walking, wheeling and cycling. 

Some of the most significant issues flagged in the guidance include: 

• Conflict at junctions, side roads and roundabouts 
• Motor traffic speed and volume
• Lane widths
• Footway and highway surface defects such as potholes, loose cracked surfaces, overgrown vegetation, and missing dropped kerbs. 
• Provision and standard of crossings 

Active Travel England (ATE) recommends practitioners use this guidance alongside ATE’s existing route check tool to identify and remove these risks - ensuring that active travel schemes are inclusive and safe for everyone. 

CIHT has long recognised the link between safe, accessible and attractive networks and people’s ability to walk, wheel and cycle. Our members article, ‘Potholes and poorly maintained footways - The cost to the NHS’ highlights the human cost of potholes and poorly maintained footways, including accidents, injuries and the risks of social exclusion. This theme is likewise addressed in our recently published report, ‘Overcoming the barriers to implementing active travel schemes’.  

On 27 November 2025, ATE’s inspectorate team will host a webinar to provide an overview of the 16 critical safety issues.