Oslo officials reported last week that zero pedestrian or cyclist fatalities occurred on the city’s roads in 2019.
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City data for Oslo, which has a population of about 673,000, shows a dramatic reduction in traffic fatalities. Road deaths fell from 41 in 1975 to one in 2019 where a man was killed when his vehicle hit a fence.
Ingrid Dahl Hovland, the country’s top road administrator, said: “This is no cushion. Every serious accident is one too many, the fight against traffic death and serious injuries in traffic continues with unabated strength.”
Oslo’s strategy to achieve Vision Zero includes introducing regulations to lower speed, banning cars from certain areas, expanding its bike network, and added traffic calming measures around schools.
The most significant policy Oslo officials made was restricting cars from its square-mile city centre and rise fees for entering and parking around the city’s core. Tolls rose in 2017 as the city removed 700 on street parking spaces and replaced them with 37 miles of bike lanes and pocket parks. The city centre ban went into effect in early 2019 and initially received backlash from residents who were concerned about the reduction in parking spaces. The scheme is now regarded as a model for other cities.
Oslo leaders established “Hjertesoners” or “heart zones” where vehicles are not permitted to pick up or drop off children around each primary school which contributed to no children under 15 died in roadway crashes anywhere in the country of Norway during 2019.
However, Oslo hasn’t declared victory for Vision Zero just yet. City officials say that hitting the goal would mean zero roadway injuries—not just zero deaths
Anders Hartmann, walking and biking policy for Oslo, says: “While we are making great progress, there is still a way to go to consistently keep deaths at zero for all road users.”
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