Swindon Borough Council's cabinet will be recommended to adopt a plan that will see nobody killed or seriously injured on the borough's roads.

'Vision Zero' has been recommended to the cabinet by members of the authority's Building a Better Swindon policy committee, who were asked whether they wanted to pay forward such a policy for the Labour member to consider.

Highways Officer Philip Martlew and Perry Payne from the Wiltshire & Swindon Road Safety partnership briefed members of the committee on what it might mean.

Mr Martlew said: ”Last year the council approved a safe systems approach to road safety.

“There was a debate about setting a target for the number of casualties. There was no figure but a target was set for a consistent decrease in the number of casualties who are killed or seriously injured on the roads the borough council is responsible for.”

Mr Martlew said safe systems were designed to minimise danger while realising that people make mistakes - it was an approach where if something went wrong, the entirety of the design means the impact was lessened.

He likened it to Formula One racing: “They’re racing around at 170mph, and mistakes do happen, but the whole system – the track design, the safety features, the cars, the marshalling all works and steps in to make sure that the likelihood of injury is minimised.”

Mr Payne said: “It’s right that we should have a vision where nobody is killed or seriously injured on the roads. It’s good to have that ambition.”

Leader of the Conservative group Councillor Gary Sumner said: “This is a sensible approach. But I’m worried it might become like Wales - a blanket reduction in speed. What will it look like for the residents of Swindon?

“We can not eliminate deaths on the roads. People will speed, they will pay less attention, they are using mobile phones.”

Mr Martlew said the vision made no specific recommendations but said it would see a holistic approach where the possible impact or mistakes of poor behaviour are lessened.

Councillor Daniel Adams, who represents St Andrews in north Swindon, where street parking is often a problem said: “I’d want to see something about enforcement on bad parking – because that often contributes to poor visibility which is a factor in collisions in residential streets."

Councillor Claire Crilley asked about the possibility of separate infrastructure for motors, cyclists and pedestrians as is common in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The committee agreed unanimously to recommend a Vision Zero approach to the cabinet.