In its vision to decrease traffic fatalities, Los Angeles adopted Vision Zero in 2015, aiming to eliminate all by 2025. To meet this goal, the city modified 18 traffic corridors with the installation of extended curbs and protected turn signals. But there has not been any considerable decrease in traffic fatalities; instead, it has increased to reach the highest number of people affected by traffic accidents in 2021, and have opted for a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles.
But other European cities, including Finland, Helsinki, and Nevada, have witnessed a steady decline in traffic fatalities by adopting the program.
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What Is Vision Zero?
The origin of Vision Zero was in 1997 in Sweden, which targeted the prevention of traffic deaths by changing the roadway system, including a change in infrastructure, traffic policies, separation of vehicle traffic from cyclists, and restricting traffic in certain areas.
Numerous European cities have adopted this safety measure, and there have been exceptional success rates. For example, the standard speed limit in Norway was lowered from 50 mph to 31 mph. It has also permitted local governments to lower their speed limits to the standard limit of the nation and install speed cameras to prevent reckless driving.
Reasons For Failure Of Vision Zero In Los Angeles:
Public Pushbacks:
The public has completely overthrown the city’s effort to change the infrastructure and implement several road policies in Los Angeles. There has been strict resistance against the installation of traffic cameras, the separate development of bike infrastructure, and the blocking or slowing down the traffic in certain areas.
Resistance From Various Transportation Departments:
In Los Angeles, there has also been a considerable amount of resistance from the departmental road engineers who disagreed with infrastructural changes to prevent slowing down of the traffic.
City’s Emphasis On The Speed Of Travel:
There has been an emphasis on the speed of travel in the city and not on traffic safety which bars the success of Vision Zero. A state law that entertains the requirement of the cities to match the traffic speed limit according to what 85% of the traffic is adopting bars the city from restricting the speed limits on several roads.
Final Thoughts
However, as Vision Zero doesn’t look promising for Los Angeles, everyone must abide by one’s duty of care on the roads and seek assistance from a personal injury attorney in case of severe accidents and injuries.
