By Johnny Sharp

In the field of road safety, there are few people who can rival the breadth of knowledge and experience offered by the new chairman of the Society of Road Safety Auditors (SoRSA). The first non-British chair of the organisation, Miguel-Angel Serrano Santos (also known as Mass) is also the senior road safety specialist for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and lead trainer for the International Road Federation (IRF).

Having worked in locations as diverse as Qatar, as road safety coordinator for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Tanzania, where he contributed to the Ten Steps programme, winner of a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award, Mass has seen the different ways road safety initiatives can impact lives worldwide.

But while the word ‘auditor’ might sound like a role focused on numbers, for Mass, that’s not where the key to improving road safety awareness lies.

“We can say that 1.3 million people are dying every year on the roads,” he says. “But people cannot imagine 1.3 million. It’s much more effective to show them stories of one person, because behind every number, there’s a human story – a family member, a loved one.” 

An investment not a cost

Mass believes that a better understanding of the role of road safety auditors is essential, particularly within the transport industry. “Nobody likes the idea of your own work being audited by someone,” he says. “So they see us as enemies. But we are there to complement their work, to help not criticise the work they are doing.”

The new chairman gives an example: “We might say, ‘You have this drawing where the embankment is a slope of one in two. Well, that is allowed, but we know that could cause a car to tip over. So is it possible that we make it one in four rather than one in two? Yes, it’s going to be more expensive, but it’s going to be safer and you may save lives.’”

Mass regards road safety as an investment rather than a cost, and would like to see the focus move away from motorists and on to the bigger picture of safety on our roads.

“We need to understand that road safety is something that we need to coordinate between all of us,” he says. “It cannot always be the driver, it cannot always be the car, and it cannot just be the infrastructure. But if they are not safe, they can all be part of it. So we need specialists who are going to sit down with the design team and say, ‘Hey, it’s good what you are doing, but it can be better.’”

New training, new talent

Since SoRSA was established by CIHT to create a forum for best practice and routes to professional recognition in the road safety auditing sector, there’s a strong bond between the two organisations. That’s led to a range of events and resources, including a two-week training course in Road Safety Engineering assured by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

“We can help inform people how to consider road safety from the very beginning in their projects,” says Mass. “In many countries in the world, that doesn’t happen. Road safety is like a tick-box they look at when they are obliged to.”
Recruitment is also key, which is why CIHT is planning further courses in partnership with SoRSA to train transportation professionals to be road safety auditors.

“To be a road safety specialist is not an easy sell because you are dealing with the worst part of civil engineering and transport planning, that some would prefer not to think about – people that are dying or seriously injured on the road,” says Mass. “We need to bring in young people that are still building their careers, so they can focus and learn how to make the changes we need. They can save lives by protecting people on the road.”

With leaders as passionate as Mass in charge, there’s every chance these messages will cut through, road safety will be improved and lives will be saved. 

• Find out more about the work of SoRSA here

• Read the SoRSA guide to being a road safety auditor here