The Seattle Vision Zero project is an ambitious undertaking by any stretch of the imagination, and Seattle has confidently taken that challenge. Our city has made significant advances in reducing the number of people killed in traffic accidents. According to statistics provided by the city, over the past 10 years alone, there has been a 30 percent decline in the number of fatalities on Seattle streets.
The Vision Zero project plans to eliminate traffic accident fatalities and serious injuries in accidents by 2030. This campaign is based on the belief that accident fatalities and injuries are entirely preventable. In fact, the campaign doesn't even believe that these are accidents. These are collisions, which are often the result of poor planning, and bad behavior.
Toward that end, the Vision Zero Campaign aims at attacking the problem by targeting different facets of traffic safety, here are a few examples.
- Better street design by reducing speed limits
- Stabilizing driving behavior with increased enforcement patrols
- Reducing the impact of human error by installing high reflectivity pavement markings
Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
The city also recognizes that there is no Vision Zero campaign without a specific focus on pedestrian and bicycle accident fatalities. When pedestrians and bicyclists are involved in accidents, their risk of death is much higher than the occupants of a car in an accident.
Therefore, the Vision Zero campaign specifically targets pedestrian and bicycling safety through a combination of methods that include more sensitive engineering design, and better enforcement of existing safety rules. Better engineering will come through evaluations of each serious collision by the Seattle Department of Transportation and the increased enforcement of existing rules will come about by more outreach to partners like Safe Routes to School.
The Vision Zero campaign is based on a model that is linked to substantial success in reducing crashes, across the world. In Sweden, the birthplace of the Vision Zero program, traffic accident fatalities declined by more than 30 percent after the campaign was launched in the 1990s. Other cities in the United States – New York, San Francisco – have begun to take note of the Vision Zero strategy for reducing traffic accident fatalities. Now Seattle joins them.
Hire a Seattle Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
If you have suffered injuries in a pedestrian or bicycling accident, speak with a Seattle accident lawyer. This is how you begin the process of claiming compensation for your injuries. Call 425-399-7000 to speak with Max Meyers. Or fill out the contact form and schedule a consultation.
