Vision Zero at global road safety conference calls for radical shift in approach

The two-day Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety came to a close on February 20 but the  Vision Zero approach embraced by the member nations got a lot of attention and appreciation. The basic stand point for Vision Zero is that no one should be killed or suffer lifelong injury in road traffic.

This means that the view of safety in the road transport system concurs with those values that apply for safety in society as a whole. As a result, there is a radical shift in the approach towards tackling road safety.

The concept of Vision Zero was decided by the Swedish Parliament in 1997, it turned the traditional view of road safety work upside down. In short, creating a comprehensive and safe environment to ensure road safety is the essence of Vision Zero. According to Maria Krafft, Traffic Safety Director at Swedish Transport Administration, “We all need to take responsibility for the social act of driving.”

The Vision Zero elaborates that the main problem is not that accidents occur – it is instead whether the accidents lead to death or lifelong injury. This is why, the Vision Zero stresses that the road transport system is an entity, in which different components such as roads, vehicles and road users must be made to interact with each other so that safety can be guaranteed. In order to prevent serious results from accidents, it is essential for the roads, and the vehicles they carry, to match the capabilities of the people that use them.

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