The project known as Vision Zero aims to help reduce the number of fatal traffic crashes involving pedestrians to zero by the year 2024. As someone who lives in San Francisco, you know that while this is a program with high expectations, any reduction in the number of pedestrian accidents or fatalities is welcome.
If you are a bicyclist or pedestrian, this program means safety for you. Right now, you may be looking to file a claim with your attorney against someone who struck you in a crosswalk or while you were riding your bike; can you imagine a time when you wouldn’t need to be concerned about that kind of life-threatening accident?
The goal of Vision Zero is to make sure pedestrians are safer than they are now. Is it possible to reduce fatalities to zero by 2024? It is, if the agencies and public can work together to make it happen.
San Francisco is only 49 square miles, so it’s not a very large area to patrol. However, in that area, there are over a million people that need to be reached about this program. San Francisco is one of the most bikeable and walkable cities in the United States, but that also means more people are injured as pedestrians than the national average. Nationally, around 14 percent of all traffic deaths are pedestrians, while that number reaches over 50 percent in San Francisco.
With the help of several agencies including the San Francisco Department of Public Health and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the goal of Vision Zero is to identify the most dangerous areas of San Francisco, to adjust those areas with new technology and engineering standards and to help educate others about pedestrians and driving laws. With this effort, it’s hoped that the number of fatalities will finally reach zero.
Source: Vision Zero SF, “Vision Zero,” accessed Oct. 02, 2015
