"Some headlines suggest that Vision Zero is falling short in the U.S., but a deeper look tells a different story. Across the country - from Austin to Columbus to Orlando to Milwaukee - on-the-ground results show that wherever communities invest in meaningful Safe Systems changes, they enjoy measurable safety gains. Many communities have reduced traffic deaths and severe injuries since they began implementing Vision Zero changes: Orlando reduced traffic fatalities by nearly 40 percent between 2020 and 2024."
"In many other places, including in some Vision Zero cities, the number of people killed on the roads remains stubbornly high. This mirrors the dismal national trends that worsened during the pandemic. And it also reflects factors (mostly) outside of locals' direct control, such as the rising size and weight of vehicles and a built environment and policies that are painfully slow to modernize, especially at state and federal levels."
Where communities invest in meaningful Safe Systems changes, measurable safety gains appear across cities. Orlando reduced traffic fatalities nearly 40 percent between 2020 and 2024. Hoboken has recorded eight consecutive years without a traffic death. New York City reduced pedestrian deaths by 45 percent and overall traffic deaths by 12 percent between 2013 and 2023. Madison’s “20 Is Plenty” campaign cut citywide traffic deaths by more than half. Many places still face stubbornly high road deaths, reflecting pandemic-era national trends and external factors like larger, heavier vehicles and slow state and federal policy modernization. Local data show effective interventions exist but remain incompletely implemented.
Read at Streetsblog
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