Vision Zero Research Articles

ProtAct-Us from serious injuries with long-term consequences

Abstract Battling serious injuries and long-term consequences in road traffic remains one important issue in the overall goal of resilient future road transport and its Vision Zero. Challenges of increasing personal transport in urban areas coupled with autonomous vehicles and shuttles, new mobility devices and the overall need to ensure the safety of vulnerable road users as well as all types of vehicle occupants’ require solid medical background knowledge paired with innovative engineering approaches. EU Horizon Europe is currently funding the ProtAct-Us consortium (2024-2027) that aims at protecting all Road User Groups from serious injury and long-term physical, cognitive and mental health consequences related to road crashes through innovatively interlinked research action between medical and engineering methods and approaches. ProtAct-Us works on the following goals and challenges: i) Medical data correlation, standardisation and classification of long-term consequences of road crashes; ii) Robust and reliable medical, epidemiological and engineering tools like agreed methods to collect information on long-term consequences, upgraded Human Body Models and virtual assessment methods for the extremities, head, neck and face allowing for effective countermeasure development for all road users; iii) Reduction of long-term consequences and related socio-economic cost of road crash related injuries for all road users. The ProtAct-Us solutions will influence new standards in respect of extending current injury codification system with relevant long-term aspects, allowing new physical as well as virtual safety assessment procedures and adaption of rules and regulations to be implemented. Finally, scientifically well-founded suggestion for future implementation into policy, regulatory, and standardization guidelines for an inclusive safety improvement approach for in- as well as post-crash will be provided.

The Vision Zero strategy and its goals

The relevance of studying the Vision Zero strategy is driven by the growing challenges in road traffic safety faced by modern societies. Despite advances in technology and infrastructure, the number of fatalities and injuries in road accidents remains a significant issue, requiring new approaches for resolution. In the context of increased attention to sustainable development and reducing the negative impact on the environment, Vision Zero offers innovative solutions aimed at harmonizing human safety with the ecological and economic demands of modern transportation systems. The Vision Zero strategy represents a modern and ambitious approach to road safety, aiming for the complete elimination of deaths and serious injuries on the roads. This study is dedicated to a comprehensive analysis of the main goals and principles of the Vision Zero strategy, as well as its application in the context of road safety within the European Union. The aim of the study is to thoroughly examine the key objectives of Vision Zero, such as achieving zero fatalities in traffic accidents and reducing serious injuries. Special attention is given to defining serious injuries and methods to reduce them, including both technical and infrastructural solutions. The paper discusses the core principles of the strategy, including ensuring the safety of vehicles, infrastructure, and driver behavior, as well as the principles of a systems approach and proactive risk management. The findings of the study confirm that the Vision Zero strategy is an effective tool for reducing the number of traffic accidents and serious injuries, due to its comprehensive approach to road safety. Specifically, the research shows that achieving Vision Zero’s goals has a significant socio-economic impact, including reduced medical costs and improved quality of life for citizens. The realization of these goals also promotes the implementation of new technologies and innovations in the field of safety, making transportation systems more efficient and reliable. By analyzing and justifying the importance of achieving the Vision Zero goals, the study underscores the need for a comprehensive approach to managing road safety and demonstrates the potential of this strategy to ensure a safer and more sustainable transportation environment in the European Union.

Rational suicide? Interviews with Swedish psychiatrists

Semi-structured interviews were performed with 12 psychiatrists regarding their perceptions of the Swedish Vision Zero for Suicide. Focusing on the topic of rational suicide, we re-analyzed these interviews using descriptive content analysis. The informants generally acknowledged the existence of rational suicide and its occurrence also among severely ill psychiatric patients, but expressed varying perceptions of the relevance of the concept in clinical practice. The difficulty of identifying rational suicide was considered to be a major problem. Another experience was a potential conflict between promoting a patient’s rationality and preventing suicide. While the normative aspects of rational suicide have been addressed in the literature, our results highlight a need for further attention to the epistemological and practical aspects of rational suicide.

Road Safety in The European Road Transport System and the Correlation with Sustainable Development

Abstract In May 2018, the European Commission unveiled a medium-term strategic action plan as part of the Europe on the Move package, as well as a novel approach to road safety policy. In the long run, the European Union’s Vision Zero initiative has maintained an ambitious target of nearly zero fatalities by 2050. This mindset must grow stronger than it has been in the past, both among decision-makers and in society. The European Union Council, facilitating the Valletta Declaration on Road Safety of March 2017, set, for the first time, an important road safety target of halving the number of serious injuries across all EU countries by 2030, using 2020 as their benchmark. Road accidents are those quiet criminals since they often go unreported in our culture. Most Western countries, including EU members, boast some of the world’s safest roadways. In this connection, they aid other less developed European nations by emphasizing the knowledge acquired in this sector for their growth and advocating the highest possible standards on a worldwide scale. When compared to other continents, Europe is performing well in this regard, owing to decisive action at all levels, including national, regional, and municipal. At the European level, cumulative road accidents kill around 500 people every week. Deaths in other modes of transportation are no longer tolerated, and deaths on the road are no longer acceptable, and this concept must be integrated into the road safety decision-making process. It is absolutely crucial, and also required, to adopt the Safe System at the EU level as soon as possible. The scientific study includes specific research undertaken by the authors to apply various technological and managerial principles, in which correct and up-to-date facts and numbers concerning road safety and its management at the European level are provided. Those interested can thus become acquainted with the current state of play in the field approached about the new safety systems on vehicles, which have become mandatory for all car manufacturers in Europe as of January 1, 2022, but also about how these systems intervene to ensure the safety of the occupants of a vehicle. Finally, the results and future research and development directions are discussed.

Community and multisector partner engagement in US Vision Zero plan development

BackgroundVision Zero aims to eliminate serious and fatal road injuries using a Safe System approach. Safe System principles establish that safety is a shared responsibility; this involves both multisector partners...

Pedestrian and Car Occupant Crash Casualties Over a 9-Year Span of Vision Zero in New York City

Vision Zero has been increasingly embraced by jurisdictions across the United States. Existing research primarily focuses on the theoretical principles and effectiveness of specific engineering measures. However, there is limited understanding of the holistic effects of Vision Zero treatments, in the context of street type and urban environment. We developed a street typology framework to categorize street segments using four design and operational features: street width, traffic direction (one- versus two-way), number of travel lanes, and presence of on-street parking. We applied a sample-based partitioning around medoids algorithm to classify 90,327 street segments in New York City. This process results in six distinctive types of street segment. To integrate neighborhood-level factors (e.g., land use variables and sociodemographics), we aggregated street segments of a given street type for each neighborhood. Negative binomial regression models were developed for pedestrian and car occupant crash injuries and fatalities separately for three periods: 2014 to 2016, 2017 to 2019, and 2020 to 2022. Our findings showed that street-segment groups with narrower, two-way sections and greater tree canopy coverage were significantly associated with a lower risk of casualties for both pedestrians and motorized users. Street-segment groups located in neighborhoods with a larger percentage of African American and Hispanic American residents experienced a significantly greater risk of casualties. Vision Zero treatments had mixed effects on safety outcomes. Streets treated with leading pedestrian intervals showed a lower risk of casualties. Neighborhood- and arterial slow zones were associated with a lower risk of car occupant casualties.

Public Health Involvement in United States' Vision Zero Initiatives: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Vision Zero (VZ) aims to reduce fatalities and serious injuries from road traffic crashes to zero through multidisciplinary coordination. While public health officials are often recognized as critical to VZ, their involvement in VZ across the United States has not been quantified. To explore how United States public health officials were involved in VZ development and implementation. We used a mixed-method design including a quantitative assessment of VZ plans and in-depth interviewing with VZ coordinators. United States. Twenty-two in-depth interviews with municipal (n=12) and regional (n=10) VZ coordinators and 43 VZ plans were reviewed. Public health involvement in VZ development and implementation. In the United States, 64 municipalities and 21 regional entities had first-time VZ plans published between 2014 and 2022. We abstracted a sample of municipal (n=22) and all (n=21) regional plans. Most plans described key groups involved in plan development (municipal 81.8%, regional 100%). About two-thirds (67.4%; 59.1% municipal, 76.2% regional) of the plans noted public health officials in the plan development. Most plans described the principles forming the foundation of their plan (83.7%), but few mentioned public health as part of the plan principles (22.7% municipal, 14.3% regional). Public health officials were involved in engaging the community (9.1% municipal, 33.3% regional) and providing data (22.7% municipal, 52.4% regional) for plan development, as documented in the plans. For proposed implementation, public health officials were identified as involved in: community engagement (31.8% municipal, 42.9% regional), sharing/analyzing data (40.9% municipal, 33.3% regional), and identifying/providing funding sources (13.6% municipal, 4.8% regional). The in-depth interviews provided further context and a more detailed understanding of public health involvement in VZ. Evidence from the VZ plans and interviews provided examples of how public health officials engaged in the development and implementation of VZ initiatives.

Major Traffic Safety Reform and Road Traffic Injuries Among Low-Income New York Residents, 2009-2021.

Objectives. To evaluate the effects of a comprehensive traffic safety policy-New York City's (NYC's) 2014 Vision Zero-on the health of Medicaid enrollees. Methods. We conducted difference-in-differences analyses using individual-level New York Medicaid data to measure traffic injuries and expenditures from 2009 to 2021, comparing NYC to surrounding counties without traffic reforms (n = 65 585 568 person-years). Results. After Vision Zero, injury rates among NYC Medicaid enrollees diverged from those of surrounding counties, with a net impact of 77.5 fewer injuries per 100 000 person-years annually (95% confidence interval = -97.4, -57.6). We observed marked reductions in severe injuries (brain injury, hospitalizations) and savings of $90.8 million in Medicaid expenditures over the first 5 years. Effects were largest among Black residents. Impacts were reversed during the COVID-19 period. Conclusions. Vision Zero resulted in substantial protection for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations known to face heightened risk of injury, but the policy's effectiveness decreased during the pandemic period. Public Health Implications. Many cities have recently launched Vision Zero policies and others plan to do so. This research adds to the evidence on how and in what circumstances comprehensive traffic policies protect public health. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(6):633-641. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307617).

Systemic Predictive Safety Analysis of Pedestrian Crashes for Montgomery County’s Vision Zero Program

The goal of Vision Zero is the prevention of all traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Although traditional transportation planning is reactive to locations where serious crashes occur, some agencies are taking a more proactive approach to safety to improve locations with high expected crashes before someone is seriously injured or killed. This paper presents the results of a systemic safety analysis that produced two pedestrian-related safety performance functions for Montgomery County, MD, including 1) motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians at intersections at night and 2) through-movement motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians at road sections. These models were built using negative binomial regression of police-reported crash data collected from 2015 to 2019 for most of the county road network integrated with land use-, demographic-, and roadway variables collected by the Montgomery County Planning Department for 16,387 intersections (stop-controlled and signalized) and 29,715 segments (all functional classifications except freeways). Both models identified key transportation-related exposure variables, including motor vehicle and pedestrian volumes, proximity to transit, and crosswalk locations; they also presented land use contexts that may explain where pedestrians are likely to walk and be exposed to crash risks. These results build on current systemic safety literature and demonstrate the data collection and analysis methods that can be used in a county-level Vision Zero context to improve safety for all who walk. This paper summarizes the analysis approach, including exposure modeling, crash modeling, and applications for identifying both high-risk locations and potential mitigations. Considerations for equity and long-term planning are also discussed.

Injury risk curves to guide safe speed limits on Swedish roads using German crash data supplemented with estimated non-injury crashes

Vision Zero postulates that no one should be killed or seriously injured in road traffic; therefore, it is necessary to define evidence-based speed limits to mitigate impact severity. The overall aims to guide the definition of safe speeds limits by establishing relations between impact speed and the risk of at-least-moderate (MAIS2+) and at-least-severe (MAIS3+) injuries for car occupants in frontal and side crashes in Sweden. As Swedish in-depth data are unavailable, the first objective was to assess the applicability of German In-depth Accident Study (GIDAS) data to Sweden. The second was to create unconditional injury risk curves (risk of injury given involvement in any crash), rather than risk curves conditional on the GIDAS sampling criterion of suspected-injury crashes. Thirdly, we compared the unconditional and conditional risk curves to quantify the practical implications of this methodological choice. Finally, we provide an example to demonstrate how injury risk curves facilitate the definition of safe, evidence-based speed limits in Sweden. Characteristics important for the injury outcome were similar between GIDAS and Swedish data; therefore, the injury risk curves using German GIDAS data are applicable to Sweden. The regression models yielded the following results for unconditional injury risk curves: 10 % MAIS2+ at 25 km/h impact speed for frontal head-on crashes, 20 km/h for frontal car-to-object crashes, 55 km/h in far-side crashes, and 45 km/h in near-side crashes. A 10 % MAIS3+ risk was reached between 70 and 75 km/h for all crash types. Conditional injury risk curves gave substantially different results; the 10 % MAIS3+ risk in near-side crashes was 140 km/h, twice the unconditional value. For example, if a 10 % MAIS3+ risk was acceptable, treating remaining uncertainty conservatively, assuming compliance with speed limits and that Automated Emergency Braking takes 20 km/h of the travel speed before impact in longitudinal traffic, the safe speed limit for car occupants on most Swedish roads would be 80 km/h and 60 km/h in intersections.

Toolkit for creating a safety culture for future railway workers

JSC ‟Russian Railways” is carrying out comprehensive work to reduce injuries to zero, including by increasing the level of professional training of employees. Safety culture as a derivative of the international movement Vision Zero, has become an important part of the occupational safety management system in Russian Railways and has radically changed the approach to the identification and prevention of injuries in railway transport. Students of transport technical schools and universities should join the Vision Zero international movement at the stage of education, that is, much earlier than the actual start of work. To do this, it is proposed to introduce a system of annual labor protection months in educational institutions, which will become the basis for the formation of a safety culture. Conducting such months gives the student the opportunity to take part in them for several years in a row, at the beginning of training to a greater extent as a listener and spectator, but at senior courses, to act as a lecturer, organizer and participate in more significant events.Constant work on the formation of a ‟correct” understanding of the importance of compliance with the safety standards and rules of future railway workers will become the basis for the eradication of injuries due to unfair compliance with the requirements of labor protection instructions.

The immediate effects of vision-zero corridor upgrades on pedestrian crashes in New York: A before-and-after spatial point process approach

The long-term effects of the Vision-Zero (VZ) approach in Scandinavia are well documented. In contrast, information regarding the immediate effects of VZ at the starting phase upon gradual implementation is scarce. Taking New York City as the case study, we analyzed both the local and global effects of the Vision-Zero gradual implementation on pedestrian crashes in the early stage of implementation starting from 2014. The data analysis comprised 8,165 pedestrian injury crashes. Using location data, the crashes were matched to VZ infrastructure improvement location, start and completion dates. The experimental design included a treatment and two types of control conditions, and we controlled for well-known covariates including traffic exposure, land use, and risk-prone areas. We estimated a Geyer Saturation model and kernel density function for modeling the effect of Vision-Zero on crash intensity and dispersion two years before and after the implementation of Vision-Zero. The results reveal a significant global decrease of 6.1 % (p = 0.004) in pedestrian crash incidence in the treated sections compared with the control group two years after the treatment, and a greater dispersion of pedestrian injuries following the policy implementation.

An evaluation of a Vision Zero traffic-calming intervention, an urban transportation safety policy

ABSTRACT Today over 40 major metropolitan areas in the United States have formally adopted a new “Vision Zero” road design framework to prioritize roadway safety and eliminate traffic-related fatalities. This policy framework diffused across much of Europe and, more recently, the United States. In 2019, the City of San Francisco, California, implemented a series of traffic-calming interventions designed to lower speeds on left-hand turns and thereby reduce severe pedestrian and bicyclist injuries. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to evaluate this innovation. Results show that these safety measures reduced speeds between 1.4 and 1.9 miles per hour and that these reductions were sustained for at least 1 year. A conservative cost-benefit analysis suggests that these interventions have a large, positive return on investment, and that they are justified for any intersection with 2.5 or more pedestrian- or cyclist-involved crashes over a 5-year window.

Economic impact on local businesses of road safety improvements in Seattle: implications for Vision Zero projects

BackgroundLocal transportation agencies implementing Vision Zero road safety improvement projects often face opposition from business owners concerned about the potential negative impact on their sales. Few studies have documented the...

The built environment and the determination of fault in urban pedestrian crashes: Toward a systems-oriented crash investigation

This study identifies built environmental factors that influence the determination of fault in urban pedestrian crashes in the United States, with implications for both safety and equity. Using data from Columbus, Ohio, we apply regression modeling, spatial analysis, and case studies, and find pedestrians are more likely to be found at fault on fast, high-volume arterial roads with bus stops. We also observe that better provision of crossings leads to more marked intersection crashes, which are less likely to be blamed on pedestrians. In addition, large differences in both the provision of crossings and fault exist between neighborhoods. We interpret findings through the lenses of the systems-oriented safety approaches Safe Systems and Vision Zero. The conclusion argues that the designation of individual responsibility for crashes preempts collective responsibility, preventing wider adoption of design interventions as well as systemic changes to the processes that determine the built environment of US roadways.

How COVID-19 impacted the temporal and spatial distribution of collision hotspots

This research examines the spatial and temporal shift in collision hotspots caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, considering different collision severities. The Getis-Ord statistic was utilized to create spatial models and generate map outputs for 2019 and 2020. Two distinct approaches were employed: using a census tract shapefile (provided) and creating fishnet polygons measuring 500 m by 500 m. Results showed fewer hotspots outside Edmonton's central core, while fatal collisions were concentrated close to the core. This intriguing finding suggests that COVID-19 restrictions led to more aggressive driving behaviour near the centre, contributing to a rise in fatal collision numbers. The study found a significant reduction in traffic collisions in April 2020, with a 58% decrease compared to the previous year. The research highlights the pandemic's impact on road safety, emphasizing the importance of reducing traffic volume and advocating for traffic restrictions and control strategies, multi-modal planning, and efficient pricing strategies within Vision Zero for improved road safety.

Equity and Social Justice considerations in road safety work: The case of Vision Zero in New York City

This paper analyses how Vision Zero (VZ) efforts in New York City (NYC) account for equity and social justice implications of road safety work. VZ policy documents, research literature, popular science and opinion articles on road safety work in the city were studied with a prime focus on equity and social justice. Twelve semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in road safety and transport planning in the city and at national level were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of policy design, the adoption process, and the role of equity considerations in the city's road safety work. The results show that major equity and social justice issues arise in the adoption and implementation of VZ. These issues are primarily related to equity and fairness in the distribution of life saving interventions, the socio-economic impacts of road safety strategies, and the nature of community engagement in policy design and implementation. The findings point to a need for VZ practitioners to give due considerations to equity and social justice implications of VZ policies and strategies. Among others, it supports the need for understanding the nature of past equity and social justice problems in road safety and transport planning in the VZ policy design process. Moreover, the findings suggest the need for empirical studies on the socio-economic implications of VZ strategies and interventions.

Analysis of traffic conflicts at big intersection types in urban areas

In the past decades, planners developed intersections for the caroriented city. Above all, they should handle motor vehicle traffic efficiently. Urban areas currently have a high proportion of private cars and, as a result, congestion and high CO2 emissions. At the same time, the importance of and demand for sustainable mobility is increasing. Pedestrians and cyclists are particularly vulnerable as the weakest road users. The goal of transport policy is to achieve “Vision Zero,” i.e., no serious injuries or fatalities in road traffic (Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport, 2022). Many accidents occur primarily at intersections and junctions. Road traffic authorities in Germany generally use accident data from the accident atlas as the basis for evaluating the road safety of intersections. Planners can improve traffic safety by avoiding critical situations. To this end, an intensive study of the development of conflicts as a precursor to accidents can provide further insights. The research in this project shows that such data on traffic conflicts are not available to road authorities. The project will investigate which and how many conflicts between pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle traffic frequently occur at individual intersection types, such as signalized intersections or traffic circles. The initial goal of the project is to develop a survey concept. In the future, planners should be able to use this to quickly identify risks to pedestrian and bicycle traffic at the types of intersections studied. With the help of vehicle sensor data (e.g. from emergency brake assistants), further findings on the frequency and course of conflicts are to be derived. In addition, a methodology would be developed that will enable traffic planners and municipalities to carry out risk management for intersections in the future in order to improve traffic safety and promote local mobility. From the results of the conflict analysis, we will derive recommendations for transport planning and policy. An action guide will then present the recommendations. The end of the project will be in summer 2024.

The Value of a Statistical Life: From Skin in the Game to Vision Zero

The Value of a Statistical Life: From Skin in the Game to Vision Zero

Hazards Ahead?

The NordicWay project is proving that safety-improving connected vehicle systems are achievable using just the cellular network, but are all parties equally committed to Vision Zero?