Page 5 - I AM FOR ZERO BOOKLET

Vision Zero

Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to
achieve a highway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving
road traffic.

Vision Zero first emerged in Sweden when Claes Tingvall, the then direc-

tor of road safety at the Swedish Road Administration, proposed Sweden
should have the same approach to traffic safety as it did to workplace

safety.

Backed by the Minister for Transport, Vision Zero was passed in 1997
as an Act of Parliament calling for an end to deaths and serious injuries

on Swedish roads. In Sweden at the time, seven people per 100,000
were killed on the road; in 2015, fewer than three people are killed per

100,000.

The ethical core of the Vision Zero philosophy is based on protecting hu-

man life and health, while also acknowledging human error and fragility;
this also underlies the Towards Zero approach. In the same vein, the only

acceptable target to reach for, when it comes to the number of people

being killed or seriously injured when using the roads, is zero.

For Vision Zero, four areas are being focused on simultaneously: safer

roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and safer people. Improvements in
each of these areas – such as upgrading high risk rural roads, adopting

advancing car technology, setting appropriate speeds for road conditions

and ensuring people are educated and comply with road rules – will all
contribute to a safer road system and reduce the number of deaths and

serious injuries.

Vision Zero - Safety at every turn

Vision Zero|Traffic Safety By Sweden

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