Vision Zero

Vision Zero: The Ethics of "Acceptable" Deaths

For decades, traffic engineers looked at a certain number of fatalities as an "unfortunate but inevitable" cost of mobility. Vision Zero, a strategy that began in Sweden in the 1990s, challenges this by asserting that no loss of life is acceptable. It shifts the responsibility from the "perfect driver" to the "perfect system."

In a Vision Zero city, if a crash occurs, the engineers don't just blame the driver; they look at the road. Was the street too wide? Was the lighting poor? By designing systems that account for human fallibility—assuming that people will make mistakes—we can ensure those mistakes aren't fatal. It is a move from a "culture of blame" to a "culture of design," and it is the only way to reach a future where the road is truly safe for everyone.