Dear Ward 24 Residents,
With a number of things happening on our roads this week I thought it might be a good idea to review what exactly is meant by the concept of “Vision Zero”.
First and foremost is the City of Toronto had its first pedestrian fatality, when a 65 year old man who was driving a motorized scooter died from his injuries sustained after being hit by a car. https://globalnews.ca/news/4835507/man-in-wheelchair-hit-by-car-dies/
Last year we saw more pedestrians and cyclists killed on the streets of Toronto than in 2017: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/38-pedestrians-killed-in-2018-1.4933237
The province of Ontario has put new laws in place which increases fines for distracted driving. Being found guilty of a first offence comes with a $1,000 fine and the lose of three demerit points: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/distracted-driving-texting-ontario-penalties-1.4939223
Mayor John Tory announced a crack-down on distracted drivers in the downtown core for next week: https://www.cp24.com/news/police-to-launch-another-rush-hour-blitz-on-vehicles-in-curb-lanes-1.4244776
Vision Zero was launched successfully throughout Sweden in 1997. Gradually, has it spread to other jurisdictions around the world. It differs from traditional road safety approaches in that it views all road fatalities and injuries as preventable. Vision Zero views the loss of life or injury as an unacceptable trade off for other transportation system benefits. 
Central to Vision Zero is the notion humans will make mistakes. As such, the fault for road fatalities or injuries lies with both road users and the design of the transportation system. Non-human actors such as road infrastructure, public policy, regulations, vehicle technology and how victims are cared for all share responsibility.
How people use our road networks has been undergoing a rapid change in just the past few years. The road infrastructure, emerging new vehicle technology, increasing active transportation, safety of vulnerable road users, and where Ontarians live have all been influential in this change.
In Canada, at the federal level, the Canadian Council of Motor Transportation Administrators (CCMTA) is the custodian of the Road Safety Strategy 2025 (RSS 2025). RSS 2025 encourages all road safety stakeholders to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world. RSS 2025 is a high-level strategy whose objective is to enable all jurisdictions in Canada to realize zero fatalities and serious injuries on roads nationwide.
British Columbia and Manitoba have developed Vision Zero plans. Other provinces and territories such as Alberta, Prince Edward Island, and the Northwest Territories have created road safety plans. However, these do not incorporate Vision Zero principles. None of the other provinces and territories have official road safety plans.
British Columbia released a ten-year road safety strategy in 2015. In 2016, this plan was revised to incorporate Vision Zero principles. The B.C. plan is predicated on the application of the safe systems approach. This approach recognizes the inevitability of human error, the limitations of the human body in withstanding force, and the responsibility of road and vehicle designers, policy makers and road users to maximize safety in all aspects of design and maintenance of a road network. Importantly, the B.C. strategy also embraces the need to engage and collaborate with road safety stakeholders continuously. As a result, the B.C. government created a Road Safety Strategy Safe Roads and Communities Working Committee.
In Manitoba, the Provincial Road Safety Committee developed a zero-fatality road safety plan which adopts a Safe System approach and aligns with RSS 2025. The Safe System approach focuses on designing infrastructure that is forgiving of mistakes and protects vulnerable road users. To do this, road authorities are required to ensure that speed limits are safe and managed so that other parts of the system work as intended. Public education is a key plank of doing this.
At the local level, a handful of municipalities in Ontario have Vision Zero plans:
Here in Toronto, our municipal government adopted one of the most comprehensive Vision Zeros plans in Canada in 2017. The five-year action plan (2017-2021) has over 50 safety measures across six emphasis areas, and intends to prioritize the safety of the most vulnerable road users through a range of initiatives. The plan pledges to improve safety by using a data-driven and targeted approach, focusing on the locations where improvements are most needed. Based on factors which contribute to serious injury and fatality crashes, the plan also focuses on aggressive and distracted driving, and safety for motorcyclists.
In 2017, the City of London formally adopted the Vision Zero principles of: no loss of life is acceptable; traffic fatalities and serious injuries are preventable; all road users make mistakes and are physically vulnerable when involved in motor vehicle collisions; and the elimination of fatalities and serious injuries is a shared responsibility between road users and those who design and maintain roadways.
Other municipalities such as Kingston, Montreal, Mississauga, and Peel Region have pledged to adopt Vision Zero and are currently in the process of creating their plans.
In the United States, New York City remains the highest profile local government to have wholeheartedly embraced Vision Zero. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was elected in 2014, campaigned on Vision Zero. A plan was developed at the beginning of the Mayor’s first term and $1.6-billion was allocated to it. 
The effort aims to use legislation, enforcement, education, and engineering to change behavior and make streets safer. The city’s efforts have paid off. Pedestrian deaths have fallen by 44 per cent since 2014 and overall traffic fatalities are down by 27 per cent. The first half of 2018 has seen the fewest traffic-related fatalities in any six-month period ever measured.
Hopefully everyone can work together for safer street in Toronto during 2019!
Is it working? I would love to hear everyone’s feedback!
All my Best,
Paul