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Vision Zero Initiative - Swedish solutions on New York streets

2015-09-30

Volvo Group

In New York, approximately 4,000 individuals are seriously injured in traffic and more than 250 lose their lives every year. Inspired by the Swedish Vision Zero Initiative, the city is making the streets safer for the public by developing its own Vision Zero Program.

The city of New York to implement its own version of the Vision Zero Initiative.

The Swedish Vision Zero Initiative dates from 1997 and is a Swedish framework where the government, advocacy and the private sector are brought together to reach the common goal of no deaths in traffic. Volvo has now been working closely with Swedish authorities and other stakeholders in the two decades since the Vision Zero idea was first launched in Sweden.

“It is clear to us just how important collaboration is for success. We collaborate so that we can accelerate progress in areas which are outside of our own control“, says the Volvo Group Safety Director Peter Kronberg.

At the moment, for children under 14, being struck by a vehicle is the leading cause of injury-related death and the second leading cause for seniors in New York City. And on average, vehicles seriously injure or kill New Yorkers every two hours.

Since 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City of New York have taken on the challenge to make New York’s streets safer by establishing a permanent Vision Zero task force, and collaborate together with the City’s various administrations where a multitude of city actions are proposed to get closer to the common goal.

On the 30th of september 2015, Business Sweden, in collaboration with SACC New York, the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Swedish Consulate in New York, holds a Vision Zero Initiative Seminar in New York City, in which the Volvo Group participates. The aim is to showcase the products and services offered from Sweden within the traffic safety sector, as well as to understand the ways New York City is implementing Vision Zero.

“Developing safety solutions for the urban environment is very challenging due to the complexity of urban traffic, especially in a large busy city like New York. The NY Vision Zero Program gives us a unique possibility to learn more about their specific challenges, and hopefully Volvo can develop a closer partnership with this City in their ambitious plan to implement measures to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities”, says Peter Kronberg.

Read more about the Swedish Vision Zero Initiative here: http://www.visionzeroinitiative.com