30 km/h
The Finnish Capital Helsinki has not registered a single fatal traffic accident for more than a year. This makes it one of the largest cities in Europe to achieve this. What is the Secret of the Finns?
The Last Time Someone died in Traffic in Helsinki was in July 2024. Since then, there have leg zero deaths. And that in a city with over 660,000 inhabitants. Only Smaller Cities Have Achieved Similar Figures in The Past, Including The German Freiburg and Gelsenkirchen. Accordance to Finnish Traffic Experts, The Success Lies in A Mix of Measures. More Traffic Cameras Have Been Installed, Pedestrian and Bicycle Paths Have Been Greatly Improved, And There Is Close Cooperation between Police and Environmental Services.
Maximum speed 30 km/h
But the Key, Accordance to Traffic Engineer Roni Utriainen, Lies in Something Else: Speed. “On more than half of the streets in Helsinki, a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour applies,” Said Utriainen to the Finnish Public Broadcaster Yle. “In the 80s, IT was still 50 kilometers per hour in many places. That is now unthinkable.” The Speed Reduction Not Only Makes The Streets Safer, But also More Livable. Less Noise, Less Emissions and Especally FEWER Victims.
Helsinki is not the only city that is committed to ‘vision zero’, The European Pursuit of Zero Traffic Deaths. Paris and Brussels had Already introduced a general speed limit of 30 kilometers per HOR Within the City Limits. In Spain, This Limit Has Been in effect Since 2021 On All Two-Lane Roads Within Cities.
The results, accordance to experts, are promising: feer deaths, ferwer serious injuries and more space for pedestrians and cyclists. The German Inspection Organization Dekra Has Been Keeping an Interactive Map Since 2014 Showing which European Cities Have Remained Without Traffic Deaths For A Year. Large Cities, With More Than 310000 Inhabitants, Without Traffic Deaths Are Hardly To Be Found On That Map.
Feer Deaths and Injuries
Helsinki is Therefore Breaking A Trend. What about the Netherlands? In The Netherlands, More and More Cities are experimenting with zones or 30 kilometers per hour, such as in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. Yet there is still no major city that has been able to record a year without traffic deaths.
The Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) Estimates That With A Speed Reduction for Half of the Streets Where 50 kilometers is Driven, Between 22 and 31 percent of the Number of Traffic Deaths and Injuries Can Be Prevented. MoreOover, the Chance of Survival for a Pedestrian in a Collision with a Car would be 95 percent on a 30 kilometer road, where that is 85 percent on a 50 kilometer road.