Towards a potential Paradigm Shift. The Role of Vision Zero in Global Road Safety Policy Making

Abstract

AbstractVision Zero is a term mainly connected to road traffic safety and has its roots in the Swedish road safety policy, although similar concepts are used in other countries. It was adopted by the Swedish Parliament in 1997, and due to the success of lowering the number of deaths in traffic crashes significantly, it has become an inspiration to road safety strategies in countries and cities all over the world. An important factor as to why Vision Zero diffuses is the incorporation of the vision in reports and strategies from international intergovernmental organizations and through the work of nongovernmental organizations. The development of finding a common global strategy for road safety has been an ongoing process for many years, and the purpose of this chapter is to map the role of Vision Zero in this global development process. This is performed by studying the integration of Vision Zero in the road safety work and strategies of key international intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. The chapter also contains an account of possible opportunities and advantages of working with Vision Zero as a tool on the global level as well as the criticism towards the approach. This chapter discusses the content of what is being diffused, why it is diffused, who is diffusing, and how it is diffusing. The material consists of key global policy documents and 29 semi-structured interviews with senior experts working with road safety on a global level. The main conclusions are that Vision Zero is a well-established global road safety policy program and a road safety philosophy integrated into both the work and texts of the major intergovernmental organizations working with road safety. There is a widespread opinion that Vision Zero and other safe system approaches constitute a paradigm shift in global road safety work. It is regarded as an innovative and inspiring policy based primarily on its ethical approach. It is also regarded as a coherent policy program and rests firmly upon years of progress and experience. Even though many of the respondents are positive towards the ethical base and the systematic approach, there are still those who argue that Vision Zero cannot be used as a policy tool, at least not in low- and middle-income countries. It is obvious that Vision Zero is not interpreted and reproduced in the same way in all contexts, but the question is if that is part of a natural transformation process leading to new interpretations or if it is a problem for the Vision Zero trademark.