Vision Zero
Vision Zero is a road safety strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries. It originated in Sweden in the late 1990s and is now gaining momentum across Europe, the U.S., and Canada. It is based on the simple idea that streets must be designed for safe speeds that accommodate human error.
What is Vision Zero?
Vision Zero refers to zero victims on the roads or no deaths or serious injuries.
Too many deaths on our streets
Across the world in 2015, there were 1.3 million deaths from roadway collisions (WHO, 2017). Internationally, traffic collisions are the tenth greatest cause of death, and Canada is no exception, with a mortality rate in 2013 that was twice that of Sweden’s (WHO, 2013).
The Vision Zero strategy operates on the basic principle that human life takes priority over mobility.
Acceptability of road deaths
The current roadways system allows drivers to take risks well beyond human capacity for impact. The human body is vulnerable, especially when involved in a collision. As they are currently designed, roads put users at risk of death on a daily basis.
Anchored in a dominat car-centric paradigm, the design of our road network does not adequately consider the risks of traffic accidents, particularly for vulnerable road users. The Vision Zero approach affirms that people fundamentally deserve safe transportation, and that it is the responsibility of governments to implement safe transportation conditions.
Vision Zero Resources
- Vision Zero communication campaign, City of Montreal
- Vision Zero in Montreal
- Vision Zero Forum, co-organized by MUEC in October 2017
- Vision Zero in Toronto
- Vision Zero in Canada
- Vision Zero in New York
- Vision Zero in Edmonton