Vision Zero’s Ambitious Safety Plans Face Implementation Realities

The program’s outcomes in different cities show varying levels of success and some failures.

2 minute read

September 24, 2018, 2:00 PM PDT

By Camille Fink


Laura Laker takes a closer look at Vision Zero, a traffic safety program designed to decrease, and ultimately eliminate, traffic deaths and injuries. In 2014, New York was the first large American city to adopt a Vision Zero program. The city lowered traffic speeds on particularly dangerous streets, installed features that slowed traffic, and put in speed cameras. Road fatalities decreased by over 25 percent and pedestrian deaths by almost 50 percent by 2017.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, ran into problems when it started up a Vision Zero program last year, and road fatalities eventually increased by 80 percent, reports Laker:

On Temple Street, where 34 people were killed or severely injured within 2.3 miles in eight years, a “road diet” expected to reduce crashes by up to 47% met backlash from residents and drivers. Local city leaders downgraded lane removals to things that wouldn’t interfere with motor traffic: sidewalk repairs, new traffic signals and crosswalks.

London recently adopted its own Vision Zero plan, and it is also facing resistance. “In June, mayor Sadiq Khan’s flagship pedestrian safety scheme, the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, was blocked by the local borough, Westminster city council, following local concerns about traffic displacement,” says Laker.

Advocates say Vision Zero programs need strong political leadership to push through the kinds of infrastructure and design changes necessary for creating a safer urban landscape. In addition, policing needs to focus more on drivers and less on pedestrians and cyclists, they say. 

Monday, September 17, 2018 in The Guardian

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of California High-Speed Rail station with bullet train.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself

The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

May 19, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Two Rivian trucks charging at Rivian branded charging ports.

US Senate Reverses California EV Mandate

The state planned to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, a goal some carmakers deemed impossible to meet.

7 hours ago - CALmatters

Metal U.S. Geodetic Survey marker in stone in Arizona.

Trump Cuts Decimate Mapping Agency

The National Geodetic Survey maintains and updates critical spatial reference systems used extensively in both the public and private sectors.

May 22 - Wired

Close-up of 10 mph speed limit sign.

Washington Passes First US ‘Shared Streets’ Law

Cities will be allowed to lower speed limits to 10 miles per hour and prioritize pedestrians on certain streets.

May 22 - The Urbanist