Does the Vision Zero work?

 The Vision Zero approach to road safety is highly effective. Sweden has one of the world’s lowest traffic-related fatality rates - and the statistics clearly show that safety does not compromise mobility. On the contrary, increased mobility actually depends on effective road safety.

  More traffic, fewer fatalities

Traffic volume and fatality rates are partly linked to changes in economic growth. But we can clearly see that road deaths have continued to decrease despite a steady rise in traffic. This chart shows the growth in traffic volume (blue) and recorded traffic fatalities (yellow) from 1950 to the present day.

Huge potential

 There are other positive effects. Fatalities involving unprotected pedestrians in Sweden have fallen by almost 50% in the last five years. The number of children killed in traffic accidents has also been cut. In 2008 the first traffic death involving a child did not occur until 22 October that year. And yet, the untapped potential remains huge. In Sweden, we could cut the death toll by a further 90% if we could eliminate technical system failures, failure to wear seat belts, speeding and drink driving - from 5 deaths per 100,000 to 0.5. This is what the Vision Zero is about: looking forward and creating strategies to take safety to new levels.

 The Swedish experience can be yours

Every nation of course has its own set of issues to address in road safety. Specific conditions might differ from those in Sweden, but we believe that the will to protect the lives and health of men, women and children is a universal one. The Vision Zero Initiative offers you access to the experience and knowledge of those involved in Swedish road safety. Please see the Solutions or Get started sections for more information. 

 The Human Factor People might fail, the road system should not

 The Vision Zero starts with a statement: we are human and we make mistakes. Our bodies are subject to biomechanical tolerance limits and simply not designed to travel at high-speed. Yet we do so anyway. An effective road safety system must always take human fallibility into account.

People make mistakes

An individual can feel nervous about standing on a chair to change a light bulb yet see a train coming and hurry to cross the rails. We have a very natural fear of heights, but lack the ability to judge velocity. We’re also naturally prone to be distracted and have our attention diverted by music, phone calls, smoking, passengers, insects, or events outside the car. On top of this, we just make silly mistakes. The human factor is always there – 365 days a year. 

 Unreasonable risks

Considering this, our road systems are allowing drivers to take risks way beyond our capability. Road systems are based on all the factors long known to pose hazards. They have an unclear responsibility chain that actually blames the victims for crashes and injuries. For example, our road systems allow cars to travel at 200 km/h just a meter or two behind the vehicle in front. They allow cars travelling at 100 km/h to pass a child standing a meter away - in the wet and not knowing if the driver is fit or understands the risks.

 Making errors part of the equation

 Only by designing the entire transport system to cater for human fallibility can we overcome these risks. Doing so will teach us how to manage kinetic energy in traffic systems and change road and vehicle design – separately and in unison.
In every situation a person might fail - the road system should not. This is the core principle of the Vision Zero.

Source: Vision Zero initiative- Sweden