ALEKSANTERRINKATU, Helsinchia, Finland
Nordic capitals continue to show us how we can eliminate deaths in traffic. Helsinquia, like Oslo and Stockholm, practically eliminated fatal accidents on the road.
The capital of Finland established a new world frame by registering a whole year with zero deaths Related to traffic: The last death on the road in Helsinchia took place in July 2024.
This extraordinary result was not a mere chance, nor was an atypical year – but the culmination of decades of systematic implementation of a security philosophy Specifically conceived to eradicate the road accident in the city, tells the.
Lower speedsautomatic cameras and intelligent urban planning helped, but it was the global view that made this result possible.
The metropolitan population of Helsinquia rounds the 1.5 million inhabitantsabout double the population of the municipality of Lisbon.
But while in 2024, according to ANSR, the Portuguese capital registered 8 Deadly Victims in Highway AccidentsHelsinchia has just completed a year without any accident.
“Many factors contributed to this, but Speed limits are the most important, ”he says Roni UtriainenTraffic Engineer of the Urban Environment Division of the city.
More than half of the streets of Helsinchia have Speed limit of 30 km/h. Half a century ago, the city barely had half its area with a limit of 50 km/h. These limits were gradually reduced – especially with schools and childhood gardens.
O smarter drawing of the streets also played a key role, and priority was given to improvements in Pawns and cyclists infrastructures in recent years. More and more people have started using public transport, bicycles or simply walking.
Substantial Investments They also made public transport more efficient and reliable. “You public transport in Helsinquia are excellentwhich reduces the use of the car and, consequently, the number of serious accidents, ”says Utriainen.
Another fundamental element was Get the support of the police. Helsinchia introduced automatic traffic chambers and inspection systemswhich also helped reduce reckless driving.
These are not just deadly or serious accidents. In the 1980s, there was about 1000 injured accidentsand traffic deaths were around 30 a year. Last year, the number of serious accidents fell 75%.
Priority to life instead of cars
The guardians of the city of Helsinchia make it very clear: the year without death It is not a statistical anomaly or a “lucky blow”but the direct long -term planning result and the cumulative impact of policies implemented over several decades.
It all started with Approach “Vision Zero“.
This concept Born in Swedenwhere it was formally adopted by Parliament in 1997. In its essence, it states that “It can never be ethically acceptable that people are dead or severely injured when they move in the road transport system. ”
For example, whenever there is the death of a pawn for “irregular crossing“The Department of Transportation should not simply assign the guilt to the pawn reckless.
Os urban planners have an obligation to evaluate that causes led to this situation. The distance between treadmills is too large? Is lighting bad or the speed limit too high?
It’s hard at the beginning, and The approach was initially ridiculed by some as unrealistic. But can be achieved, and in slightly different ways.
Oslo, the capital of Norwayfollowed a road safety strategy with the explicit objective of reduce cars.
Like Helsinquia, Oslo got the remarkable milestone of zero deaths of pedestrians and cyclists in 2019. This success was driven by a clear political choice of make driving in the city hardermore expensive and less convenient.
The city systematically removed parking places On the street, recovering this space for public use. To the tolls were increasedand this money was invested in public transport. Oslo also reduced speed limits throughout the city.
Stockholm, in turn, created main roads only for pedestrians and bicycles. The city led a campaign to Identify and correct failures Small but criticism in the pedestrian network, such as muddy paths or missing connections, often based on direct contributions from citizens.
Can this be replicated?
The success of Helsinia, Oslo and other cities It is neither mystical nor difficult to realize. In fact, it is a clear plan and replicable for any urban area committed to eliminating traffic deaths.
But getting a similar level of security requires a fundamental change of philosophy, supported by a set of proven strategies and based on statistical data.
First, the successful cities started with a declared commitment of eliminate traffic deaths. This up -down rhetoric sends a useful signal and encourages stakeholders to work together – as long as it is not just conversation.
Could be done in Lisbon Or any other city in the country?
A most impactful change is always the speed limit. This is what saves lives, but Many Portuguese drivers go shiver just thinking to drive at 30 km/h in an urban road.
In 2022, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Coinsthat the opposition in the municipality “demonstrated superb” with the approval of a proposal to reduce by 10 km/ha Maximum traffic speed on the 3rd, 4th and 5th level.
At the time, the Take a walk around Lisbon at 30 km/h with Patrícia Gonçalves, the councilwoman of Livre who had proposed the reduction of these limits – in an exercise of BUZINADELA ACCOUNTING and the times the vehicle was outdated by bicycles and trotintes.
A month later, coins as an alternative to reduced speed limits by 10 km/h.
The “unspeakable idea” of driving at 30 km/h through the streets of the capital collected a huge wave of contestation on social networks – with comments full of mischief, the online version of the horn. Naturally, for any driver, circulating around the city at 30 km/h is inconceivable and intolerable. Annoyed.
It is a point of view, and It is an option – which costs 8 or 10 lives a year in Lisbon, plus 2 or 3 in the city of Porto.
Nordicas have a very different point of view: What is intolerable is that “people be killed or severely injured when they move in the road transport system. ”And they took a different option.
