Bonn, 10.12.2024
Vision Zero is an international strategy to reduce the number of road deaths and serious injuries to almost zero in the long term. The EU wants to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030, and Germany is pursuing similar goals. Which German cities are achieving the targets, and which are lagging behind? A new portal shows the status for over 700 municipalities in Germany, with significant differences in some cases.
The Initiative for Safe Streets has launched the “Vision Zero Monitor” at https://www.visionzero.org/. This portal provides information on the current status and development of more than 700 cities with a population of over 20,000 on the road to zero road deaths. To this end, all relevant data on accidents with injuries and fatalities was processed and compared with the targets defined by the European Union for reducing the number of victims.
At the same time, the ” Vision Zero Ranking” shows the cities in concrete comparison with other comparable cities, firstly in terms of fatalities in traffic and secondly in terms of serious injuries in traffic.
Larger cities lagging behind, progress visible
Of all 719 German cities surveyed, only 31% achieved both of the EU’s Vision Zero targets (for fatalities and serious injuries) last year. While several small to medium-sized cities were able to exceed this figure, some of the larger cities fell well short of the targets.
Looking at the EU’s Vision Zero targets for fatalities and serious injuries separately, just over half of all cities surveyed (55.2%) achieved the target of reducing the number of fatalities. Almost as many municipalities (54.4%) managed to reduce the number of people seriously injured in traffic. However, only 31% of cities managed to do both at the same time, which is an EU target. One in five municipalities (21.4%) failed to meet both targets.
Replacement urgently needed
“The targets set by the EU are certainly ambitious, but as can be seen in various cities in Germany, it is possible to achieve the targets if strategies and priorities for road safety are set accordingly,” comments Arno Wolter from the Initiative for Safe Roads on the current figures. He calls on local authorities to engage in more dialog: “By sharing positive achievements in Vision Zero, concrete improvements could be achieved much more quickly. Incidentally, after registering on our portal, local authorities receive free access to further detailed accident statistics relating to Vision Zero.”
With annual updates, the Vision Zero Monitor Portal will continue to record the status of progress and trends in Vision Zero in the individual cities.
Press contact:
Jörn Wolter
Initiative für sichere Straßen GmbH
Matthias-Grünewald-Str. 1-3
53175 Bonn
Phone: 0228-76 38 69 00
E-mail: presse@sichere-strassen.org