Latest news with #speed limits
Fast Company
12-08-2025
- Automotive
- Fast Company
How Helsinki cut its traffic deaths to zero
Helsinki just went a whole year—between July 2024 and July 2025—without a single traffic death. Compare that to Washington, D.C., a city with roughly the same population of close to 700,000. In D.C., 52 people died in traffic in 2024, including a 12-year-old hit by a car in a crosswalk and a visiting doctoral student who was hit by a car while riding his bike. Helsinki wasn't always as safe: the 1980s, the city typically had around 1,000 injury-causing car crashes each year, and 20 to 30 fatalities. But the city has been working to make its streets safer for decades. Here's what worked. Slashing speed limits On the majority of streets in Helsinki, the speed limit is now 30 kilometers per hour, or roughly 19 miles an hour. That's down from 50 kilometers per hour (30 mph) in the 1970s. In the early 2000s, the average speed limit dropped to 40 kilometers an hour (25 mph). Since then, the city has continuously added 30-kilometers-an-hour zones, including a recent rollout near schools. Around 60% of city streets now have that speed limit. With lower speeds, any crashes that do happen are less severe. If someone is walking across the street and hit by a car driving 30 miles an hour, they're as much as eight times more likely to die than if they're hit at 20 miles an hour. The city also went farther and shrank car lanes so drivers would feel uncomfortable speeding. 'Reducing speed limits isn't always enough,' says Roni Utriainen, traffic engineer at the City of Helsinki's Urban Environment Division. Most of its car lanes are now a little more than 11 feet wide; some are narrower. (In the U.S., lanes are typically at least 12 feet wide.) On some streets, trees are planted close to the edge of the road to help it appear even narrower. A Johns Hopkins study argues that shrinking American car lanes would also help reduce crashes. Automated traffic cameras—and fairer fines Dozens of cameras throughout Helsinki catch speeders and send automated tickets. A study in 2023 at one enforcement site found that the cameras work well; the number of drivers that were excessively speeding dropped by more than half. In Finland, unsafe drivers are fined based on their income. If someone's driving more than 20 kilometers (about 12 mph) per hour over the speed limit, their ticket will scale with their daily disposable income. In 2023, Anders Wiklöf, a multimillionaire, was fined €121,000 for driving 30 kilometers an hour (about 18.5 mph) above the speed limit. (A few jurisdictions in the U.S. tested similar income-based fines in the past, but found the system too complex and politically unpopular.) Enforcement of traffic laws is a key part of reducing fatal crashes. San Francisco has a Vision Zero goal, like Helsinki, aiming for zero traffic deaths. But while San Francisco's goal, adopted in 2014, was to reach zero traffic deaths by 2024, fatalities actually grew in the city by more than 50%. A recent report found that lack of enforcement from the police was a key factor in the failure. Better bike infrastructure and public transit Around a third of commuters in Helsinki now use public transit, while 36% walk and 11% bike. That outcome wasn't guaranteed. In the 1960s, as car ownership was quickly growing, the city considered an American-style plan of razing its downtown, taking out its streetcar system, and building 200-plus-miles of highways. Voters rejected the proposal, and public transit kept growing. The city continues to invest in public transit and recently added new tram lines. It's also continuing to build new separated bike lanes, with a planned network from all major residential areas to the city center. 'Some people don't even need to own a car because there's a good enough public transit system and they can walk or cycle,' says Utriainen. With fewer cars on the road, and carefully-considered infrastructure for people walking and biking, it's safer, unsurprisingly, to walk or bike. Plus, having more pedestrians and cyclists on the road means that drivers know that they have to look out for them. Continuous improvement Whenever a fatal crash happens in Finland, a team of experts investigates the incident, including traffic engineers. They look not only at what the driver and victim did, but how the environment contributed. If a particular intersection is unsafe—and especially if it's been the site of repeated accidents—the city takes steps to redesign it. The city continues to face new challenges. The number of large SUVs is increasing, for example, and larger cars are more likely to cause serious injuries or kill someone in a crash. 'That's something we'll need to look at in the future,' says Utriainen. Still, it's clear that the overall approach is working. In 2019, Helsinki had no traffic deaths for pedestrians or cyclists; this past year was the first with no traffic deaths at all, including people in cars. And for American cities that are struggling to reach Vision Zero goals, it offers evidence that things can change.
The Guardian
12-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Dear Britain, it's now clear: 20mph zones save lives and don't slow traffic. Implement them
Every 17 minutes. That's how often someone is killed or seriously injured in a collision on the UK's roads. Each and every one of these accidents brings an unbearable loss: for family and friends left mourning the loved ones who have been cruelly stolen from them, and survivors whose injuries can change their lives for ever. When we talk about how we make our roads safer, it's easy to get distracted by bluff and bluster. But, every time we do, we lose sight of the most important fact: traffic accidents took over 1,600 lives last year, and we have the power to reduce and prevent them. Take speed limits. Rigorous new research published by Transport for London shows the number of people killed or seriously injured on London borough roads reduced by 34% following the implementation of 20mph speed limits, with the number of children killed falling by 75% (from four to one). That means fewer grieving families and fewer people's lives made a misery. At the same time, the predicted downsides for drivers simply haven't materialised. Despite what their detractors might claim, 20mph speed limits haven't actually made journeys slower because journey times are largely dictated by junction delays, not vehicle speed. Roads where 20mph speed limits apply aren't just safer; they are quieter, too, encouraging more people to walk or cycle. Those who do drive have fewer collisions and pay less for their insurance as a result. It's no surprise that residents overwhelmingly back slower speed limits in their own communities; more than three out of four of them think that 20mph is the right speed for the area they live in. Our experience isn't isolated. The first year of a 20mph speed limit scheme in Wales led to 100 fewer people being killed or seriously injured. As mayor of the capital, my approach to road safety has never been about ideology, belief, or bias; it's about following the evidence and doing what is best. If we want to save lives, the evidence shows that there's no time to waste. That's why we're rolling out 20mph speed limits on appropriate roads. Because of our policies, today half of London's streets have 20mph speed limits. We've created more than 800 'school streets' across our city, cutting toxic air pollution and giving thousands of children a safer, healthier way to get to school. At the same time, we've increased the number of protected cycle routes fivefold, giving more Londoners the confidence to swap four wheels for two. Step by step, street by street, we have made the capital a better place to walk, cycle and drive. Faced with tough problems, we had the courage to come up with our own answers when the world offered none. When I launched the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), it was the first of its kind anywhere. Others have followed with similar schemes, but London's is the largest in the world. In 2024, the year after we expanded it, levels of roadside nitrogen dioxide – the toxic gas that exacerbates asthma and raises the risk of lung cancer – declined by 27%. Since 2019, the year the scheme was first introduced, air quality has improved at 99% of monitoring sites across the capital. In a city where air pollution is linked to up to 4,000 early deaths every year, the Ulez is saving lives. It's not just Ulez. We knew that lorries were five times more likely to be involved in a collision causing a fatality relative to their share of traffic. So, in 2021, we became the first place in the world to enforce a direct vision standard for lorries, forcing tens of thousands of dangerous vehicles to implement safety measures and improve how much drivers can see from their cab. Today, that standard is working; in 2023, the number of vulnerable road users killed by an HGV had declined by 62% from the 2017-19 baseline. The EU has since introduced a similar scheme, which it expects to save thousands of lives across the continent. When it comes to improving road safety, the record in our capital is second to none. But the truth is that, despite impressive progress, there are still too many places where higher speed limits are putting pedestrians at risk. We can and must do more, because not a single one of the tragedies that take place on the capital's roads is inevitable. This fundamental principle – that one casualty on our roads is one too many – underpins my Vision Zero for London. By implementing it, we aim to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on our transport network by 2041. But we will not succeed unless borough councils do their bit. Most of the capital's boroughs have leapt at the chance to make our roads safer; 21 of them now have a default 20mph speed limit. Unfortunately, though, there are a few councils who have so far refused to play their part. In these blocker boroughs, leaders are fighting against lower speed limits on their streets. To those councils, my message is clear: it's time to step up. Because there is nothing to be gained by playing politics with speed limits – only people to be injured and lives to be lost. Every day, I meet people who tell me they want to make even more progress to clean up our air and cut speeds on the capital's streets. Some of them are campaigners who have dedicated their lives to making the way we travel safer and more sustainable. But the vast majority are ordinary citizens: children walking home from school; parents cycling to work; carers driving to see their relatives. What they want is simple: the freedom to go about their lives in the knowledge that they are safe from harm. For their sake, the fight for safer roads must continue. Sadiq Khan is the mayor of London
Forbes
11-08-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
How Helsinki Went An Entire Year Without A Single Traffic Death
Helsinki had zero road crash fatalities in the past twelve months. Lower speed limits, smarter street design and better enforcement are among the reasons for the success. The news, confirmed by city and police officials, was announced in late July by Yleisradio Oy (Yle), Finland's national public broadcasting company. "A lot of factors contributed to this, but speed limits are one of the most important," Roni Utriainen, a traffic engineer with the city's Urban Environment Division, told the media organization. More than half of Helsinki's streets now have a speed limit of 30 km/h (about 18 -19 mph). In addition to lowering the speed limit, several other factors contributed to the city's accomplishment in making its streets safer, he added. These include: better street design and infrastructure, improved vehicle technology for both cars and other personal transport options, increased cooperation with traffic police, better traffic education, and more traffic cameras and automated enforcement systems. For example, the city made investments in its infrastructure, upgrading and improving the design of crosswalks and intersections to better protect pedestrians and cyclists. And public transport in Helsinki is excellent, which reduces car use, Utriainen added, noting that the number of serious injuries have also decreased. But while there are many reasons for the decline in serious injuries and death, he said credit also 'belongs to everyone on the road — motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.' Lower speeds in European,urban areas more generally have resulted in significantly fewer crashes, particularly serious collisions and those involving pedestrians and cyclists, according to a report released last year. Helsinki's success is part of a long-term, country-wide commitment, which resulted in greatly reduced road deaths nationwide over the last decade. Last year, Finland received the 2024 Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) prize for outstanding progress in road safety, awarded by the European Transport Safety Council, a Brussels-based independent non-profit organization. 'In Finland, they say 'vahinko ei tule kello kaulassa' which roughly translates as 'accidents don't come with a bell around their necks,'' Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council, said in a statement at the time the award was given. 'That may explain why the Finnish take such a comprehensive and strategic approach that seeks to cover many different aspects of road danger.' Helsinki, as well as Finland's current traffic safety strategy, is guided by the Vision Zero or Safe System approach to road safety and design that takes human error into account, first put into effect in Sweden in the 1990s. The goal of the initiative is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by creating multiple layers of protection, so if one fails, the others will create a safety net to lessen the impact of a crash. Improvements are designed to result in: safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash care. "For us, it's more about how the goal guides our everyday actions," Utriainen told Yle. 'We aim to assess all our decisions based on their long-term impact.' Rochelle Sobel, founder and president of the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT), a nonprofit based in the United States, said the progress has implications beyond Finland's capital city. 'Helsinki, I hope," she told Forbes, "is a glimpse into the very near future, providing cities around the world with both inspiration and a practical framework for what can and should be accomplished when political will and proven road safety strategies work together. ' For more information about road safety, click here.
RNZ News
16-07-2025
- RNZ News
Waiuku locals call for speed limit enforcements
transport law 22 minutes ago Locals in the town of Waiuku are sounding the alarm over a narrow, bumpy road that claimed the lives of a woman and two children yesterday afternoon. Concerned residents have said Masters Road is too dangerous and will continue causing accidents until speed limits are enforced. A warning, this report by journalist Felix Walton contains distressing details.
