2018 GDOT Annual Report

S A F E T Y

City Launches Vision Zero Trafc Safety Initiative

Last year, the city experienced a record 42 roadway related fatalities and 63 serious injuries, North Carolina experienced 1,396 roadway fatalities and the United States experienced 40,100 fatal trafc accidents last year. The City has a long standing trafc safety program that identifes hazardous locations and conditions and takes corrective measures to improve those hazardous locations. However, with increasing fatalities and serious injury accidents more needs to be done, and new approaches tried. The Greensboro Department of Transportation is joining forces in collaboration with other city departments, local businesses, other government agencies and stakeholders in a new trafc safety program called Vision Zero Greensboro. Vision Zero Greensboro will establish short-term and long-term goals with the ultimate goal of zero fatalities. What is an acceptable trafc fatality rate for our community, for our State, our country, what is an acceptable rate within our Vision Zero programs are fairly new in the United States and were frst implemented in Sweden as a national program in the 1990s. Sweden set specifc targets for reduced fatalities and serious injuries over time, with a long-term goal of zero fatalities. It then initiated an ongoing and incremental transportation safety improvement program including strict trafc laws and enforcement, infrastructure modifcations, education, and policy changes. Sweden recognized that reducing fatalities and serious injuries is essential to increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. It takes a collaborative and data-driven approach built around the understanding that deaths and serious injuries are preventable. Bold initiatives were implemented in Sweden which include strict zero tolerance enforcement of motor vehicle laws. Since 1990 Sweden has seen drastic reductions in trafc fatalities and serious injuries. How will Vision Zero Greensboro be achieved? The City of Greensboro’s Vision Zero program will be achieved through a multi-prong approach. It will be a own families……..Zero? What Is Vision Zero?

Four Key Principles of Vision Zero: • Trafc deaths and severe injuries are preventable. Focus attention on the shortcomings of the transportation system itself, including the built environment, policies, and technologies that infuence behavior. • People will make mistakes. The focus is not on avoiding all crashes, but rather lowering the likelihood of crashes resulting in death or severe injuries. • The highest level of responsibility should be placed on the system designers, including transportation planners and engineers, policymakers, and police. • Individuals have the responsibility to abide

by the systems, laws, and policies set by the system designers. Enforcement and education techniques should be used to increase public awareness.

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