The Finnish capital has improved traffic safety in the city through a series of measures including increased traffic control and reduced speed limits.

Original article: https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/news/news/zero-pedestrian-fatalities-in-helsinki-traffic-in-2019-5002?_lrsc=26e6d7ab-bfd3-4f5c-8b9d-23f2ce8b8e83

According to the City of Helsinki, there were no pedestrian traffic fatalities in the Finnish capital last year.

He says that accurate accident statistics have been kept since 1960 and during this time there have been zero years in which there was no loss of pedestrian life in traffic. According to the data, three people were killed in traffic in Helsinki in 2019, one car driver and two motorcyclists.

Decrease in deaths

With the exception of 2016, when three people also died in traffic, 2019 marked the best year of the period analysed.

More than 400 people were injured in traffic in Helsinki in 2019, of which almost 80 were pedestrians, but many less serious injuries are never reported to the police, which may affect the statistics. Pedestrians who slip and fall are not recorded as traffic accidents.

The number of people killed in traffic in Helsinki has decreased significantly in recent decades. In the 1980s and until the early 1990s, there were approximately 20-30 fatalities each year. After this, the number of fatalities started to decrease significantly.

In the 2010s, an average of seven people a year were killed in traffic in Helsinki. Most of the fatalities have been pedestrians almost every year. In the course of the current practice of recording statistics, the worst year was 1965 when 84 people died in traffic in Helsinki.

"The improvement in road safety is the sum of several factors. Traffic safety has improved due to improvements in the street environment, increased traffic control, the development of vehicle safety measures and technology and the development of rescue services. The reduction of speed limits has also been a key factor," says Jussi Yli-Seppälä, traffic engineer for the City of Helsinki.

Helsinki decided to reduce speed limits in 2018, and the new limits came into force last year. Currently, the speed limit on the streets in residential areas and the city centre is mainly 30 km/h. The speed limit on main streets is 50 km/h in suburban areas and 40 km/h in the city centre.

"Traffic safety has improved due to improvements in the street environment, increased traffic control, the development of vehicle safety measures and technology, and the development of rescue services".

The city will begin installing 70 new traffic cameras and making modifications to improve pedestrian crossing safety at the most dangerous locations this year.

The information on traffic accident victims is based on traffic accidents reported to the police. The city of Helsinki said that the information for 2019 is only preliminary and may change.

Oslo Statistics

In January, the Norwegian capital of Oslo announced that only one driver died in a traffic accident in Oslo in 2019, compared to five in 2018. No pedestrians, children or cyclists were killed on its roads last year.

The only death in Oslo was a man whose car crashed into a fence in June.

Figures from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration show that the number of deaths on Oslo's roads has fallen dramatically, down from 41 deaths in 1975. On average, 3.6 people have been killed in traffic in Oslo in the last five years. Ten years ago, eight people died.

Norway has a "Vision Zero" strategy, implemented in 2001, focused on reducing crashes that can lead to fatalities and serious injuries. It includes reducing the average road speed and increasing the number of safety features in cars.

The ruling mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen, told SmartCitiesWorld that major investments in public transport, bicycle lanes and pedestrian facilities, together with restrictions on car use and speed limits, had contributed to the achievement in Oslo.