How Sweden's Roads Became the Safest in the World
April 29, 2016 11:26 AM Subscribe
When Vision Zero first launched, Sweden recorded seven traffic fatalities per 100,000 people; today, despite a significant increase in traffic volume, that number is fewer than three. "The largest resistance we got to the idea about Vision Zero was from those political economists that have built their whole career on cost-benefit analysis. ... although they might not say it explicitly, the idea is that there is an optimum number of fatalities."
"The other group that had trouble with Vision Zero was our friends, our expert friends. Because most of the people in the safety community had invested in the idea that safety work is about changing human behavior. Vision Zero says instead that people make mistakes, they have a certain tolerance for external violence, let’s create a system for the humans instead of trying to adjust the humans to the system." The Swedes explain Vision Zero directly.
"The other group that had trouble with Vision Zero was our friends, our expert friends. Because most of the people in the safety community had invested in the idea that safety work is about changing human behavior. Vision Zero says instead that people make mistakes, they have a certain tolerance for external violence, let’s create a system for the humans instead of trying to adjust the humans to the system." The Swedes explain Vision Zero directly.
I'm curious how they implement this politically - does Sweden have the same byzantine layering of road responsibility as the United States where it can be city, county, state and federal government all with some amount of overlapping responsibility? In Chicago CDOT (Chicago Dept of Trasportation) often has to fight with IDOT (Illinois Dept of Transport) because the goals of a livable city are not always in line with the goals of a state that also wants to prioritize getting in and out of the city quickly.
posted by srboisvert at 11:42 AM on April 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 11:42 AM on April 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is a terrific article. We've just had a huge fight in my city about changing the (only and) main road north in town from four wide lanes marked for 35 mph to a land in each direction, a turn lane, and separated bicycle lanes. It became a proxy political battle about neighborhood self-determination and "traditional" (automobile driving) versus "new hippy" ideals for the city's future. My core frustration in it was both the utter disregard for the traffic planners who are genuinely trying to improve the system, and also for the blase acceptance that if anyone chooses to venture near that stretch of pavement and somehow gets injured they 'probably did something wrong'. I wonder what it would take to get an initiative like this accepted here.
posted by meinvt at 11:45 AM on April 29, 2016
posted by meinvt at 11:45 AM on April 29, 2016
The second quote in the post reminds me of how people make judgements during aircraft accident investigations. You get a lot of "The pilot did this stupid thing, he must have been an idiot, I'm not an idiot so I would never do that." The more considered approach is to recognize that pilots are humans and all humans screw up occasionally so it's good to design systems to take that into account.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 11:49 AM on April 29, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by LastOfHisKind at 11:49 AM on April 29, 2016 [11 favorites]
Sweden is tiny, the physical size of California with a population of 9.5 million people. The Swedish Transportation Administration (I prefer the literal translation of Trafikverket, which is Traffic Works but hey, that's me) is a national body so I'm guessing it's roughly a billion times easier in Sweden to do virtually anything that is government-related. Thanks, schmod, for the other links. So cool that Boston is also working on reducing traffic fatalities. From computers to cars to whatever, I've never understood the force-people-to-fit-the-system approach of so much engineering. As if merely being human weren't hazardous enough already.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:19 PM on April 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 12:19 PM on April 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
Oops, forgot the link to Trafikverket, which is available in English and some other languages.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:21 PM on April 29, 2016
posted by Bella Donna at 12:21 PM on April 29, 2016
Why is it that the outside face of Sweden always looks so rational and neat, while -
- for instance, we have a 30km/h zone down here in the village because of the school, and yet nobody drives ever slower than 50 (especially the big trucks that shouldn't be driving here anyway), and the police know it and everyone else knows it, and yet nobody is sent to reinforce the limit, and the municipality doesn't want to build any speed bumps, because of the poor bus drivers' backs and because it costs money. That's one basic tenet of Vision Zero right out the window.
Ok. There's a lot of good stuff happening around Vision Zero; two-lane country roads being divided by fences along the middle line (motorbikers hate them but they do make a huge difference by preventing head-on crashes), camera boxes all over the place (only a fraction is loaded with actual cameras, but who takes the risk...), myriads roundabouts to make even a sailor carsick (sponsored by the industry, no doubt, that produces wheel bearings and suspension systems, specifically the right-hand side), etc.
But our accident-prone hotspots, too, require a lot of messy accidents to happen before anyone here lifts a finger - just as anywhere else.
posted by Namlit at 12:22 PM on April 29, 2016 [6 favorites]
- for instance, we have a 30km/h zone down here in the village because of the school, and yet nobody drives ever slower than 50 (especially the big trucks that shouldn't be driving here anyway), and the police know it and everyone else knows it, and yet nobody is sent to reinforce the limit, and the municipality doesn't want to build any speed bumps, because of the poor bus drivers' backs and because it costs money. That's one basic tenet of Vision Zero right out the window.
Ok. There's a lot of good stuff happening around Vision Zero; two-lane country roads being divided by fences along the middle line (motorbikers hate them but they do make a huge difference by preventing head-on crashes), camera boxes all over the place (only a fraction is loaded with actual cameras, but who takes the risk...), myriads roundabouts to make even a sailor carsick (sponsored by the industry, no doubt, that produces wheel bearings and suspension systems, specifically the right-hand side), etc.
But our accident-prone hotspots, too, require a lot of messy accidents to happen before anyone here lifts a finger - just as anywhere else.
posted by Namlit at 12:22 PM on April 29, 2016 [6 favorites]
Great article, and more for the discussion on how they adopted Vision Zero:
Vision Zero is catching on throughout the US, though it seems like more transportation planners are talking about it than the roadway engineers. And the conflict between local and state is an issue - the state wants to move people through (and the feds do, too -- there are federal regulations that will push this, but they're still works in progress), while people want their communities to be safe and livable. But highways run through most communities in the US. Dropping speeds is good, but it also helps to narrow streets, because if the roadway design doesn't change from rural highway to community mainstreet, chances are that people will keep going 65-75 MPH and fly through your town, because they have places to be, and those places aren't your town.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:25 PM on April 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
There’s a kind of paradox. I lived in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006. I remember I went to the library there, and I found a book that an American author had written about Sweden. And that guy, he was a little bit frustrated. He saw all these systems that we have in our society, for example when it comes to health care and social security and so on, it seems he was against these. There was some sense that if you take care too much about people in your society they will be a little bit spoiled, or whatever. That you have to fight.You can't eat your bootstraps if your company fails. Well, you can, but they don't keep you going for very long. Who knew that building safety and security into society would allow people to take more risks that end up paying off in big ways.
On the other hand, Sweden has some of the most important companies in the world. They are doing lots of things in the world. Ericsson and Volvo—there are plenty of companies, actually. It’s a small country and we are out there. He came to the conclusion that it seems the social security system and that sort of thing actually creates risk-takers. Because you know that if something happens and you make mistakes in business or whatever, you will at least have food on your table.
We have that somehow built into living in our society.
Vision Zero is catching on throughout the US, though it seems like more transportation planners are talking about it than the roadway engineers. And the conflict between local and state is an issue - the state wants to move people through (and the feds do, too -- there are federal regulations that will push this, but they're still works in progress), while people want their communities to be safe and livable. But highways run through most communities in the US. Dropping speeds is good, but it also helps to narrow streets, because if the roadway design doesn't change from rural highway to community mainstreet, chances are that people will keep going 65-75 MPH and fly through your town, because they have places to be, and those places aren't your town.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:25 PM on April 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
The thing I admired the most about the Dutch intersection designs was that the physical layout of the road broke up complex, dangerous road use tasks into bite-size pieces. Rather than walking across the street being:
1) Simultaneously look left and right, try to judge when there's a gap in four lanes of car traffic
2) Run
the Dutch road design instead allowed
1) look left for gap in bike path.
2) cross bike path
3) look left for gap in car traffic.
4) cross car traffic to center island
5) look right for gap in car traffic
6) cross car traffic
7) look right for gap in bike traffic
8) cross bike traffic
Dutch road designs ALWAYS had good sight lines, and sometimes deliberately restricted your information. When waiting at a red light, if you creeped your car forward too far, you wouldn't be able to see your traffic lights anymore. The design controlled where people would wait for the green light.
Another example is turning right. In North American road design, drivers have to simultaneously look left for a gap in car traffic, look ahead for people walking across the street, and look behind and to the right for people about to walk (or bike) across the street. And sight lines are such that you can't see anything clearly until your car is stopped blocking the sidewalk. Stupidly dangerous. In Holland it goes
1) approach crosswalk/bikepath, look left/right and yield if indicated.
2) slow in car length spot provided
3) look left for gap in car traffic
4) proceed in gap
5) slow in another car length spot provided
6) look left/right at crosswalk/bikepath, yield if indicated
7) continue
Bite size pieces, with only a 45 degree field of view required to see relevant information to proceed to the next step safely, and a safe vehicle (or person)-sized spot provided in between each step. Good design.
posted by anthill at 12:27 PM on April 29, 2016 [36 favorites]
1) Simultaneously look left and right, try to judge when there's a gap in four lanes of car traffic
2) Run
the Dutch road design instead allowed
1) look left for gap in bike path.
2) cross bike path
3) look left for gap in car traffic.
4) cross car traffic to center island
5) look right for gap in car traffic
6) cross car traffic
7) look right for gap in bike traffic
8) cross bike traffic
Dutch road designs ALWAYS had good sight lines, and sometimes deliberately restricted your information. When waiting at a red light, if you creeped your car forward too far, you wouldn't be able to see your traffic lights anymore. The design controlled where people would wait for the green light.
Another example is turning right. In North American road design, drivers have to simultaneously look left for a gap in car traffic, look ahead for people walking across the street, and look behind and to the right for people about to walk (or bike) across the street. And sight lines are such that you can't see anything clearly until your car is stopped blocking the sidewalk. Stupidly dangerous. In Holland it goes
1) approach crosswalk/bikepath, look left/right and yield if indicated.
2) slow in car length spot provided
3) look left for gap in car traffic
4) proceed in gap
5) slow in another car length spot provided
6) look left/right at crosswalk/bikepath, yield if indicated
7) continue
Bite size pieces, with only a 45 degree field of view required to see relevant information to proceed to the next step safely, and a safe vehicle (or person)-sized spot provided in between each step. Good design.
posted by anthill at 12:27 PM on April 29, 2016 [36 favorites]
Sweden is tiny, the physical size of California ...
Sweden is one third the size of Sweden, and anyone who tells you differently is lying or pushing an agenda.
posted by groda at 12:40 PM on April 29, 2016 [15 favorites]
Sweden is one third the size of Sweden, and anyone who tells you differently is lying or pushing an agenda.
posted by groda at 12:40 PM on April 29, 2016 [15 favorites]
< let’s create a system for the humans instead of trying to adjust the humans to the system./em>
Seems like perfect first principal for design of almost anything.
posted by Alter Cocker at 12:58 PM on April 29, 2016 [9 favorites]
Seems like perfect first principal for design of almost anything.
posted by Alter Cocker at 12:58 PM on April 29, 2016 [9 favorites]
You get a lot of "The pilot did this stupid thing, he must have been an idiot, I'm not an idiot so I would never do that."
Right out of the gun nut playbook.
posted by klanawa at 1:02 PM on April 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
Right out of the gun nut playbook.
posted by klanawa at 1:02 PM on April 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
The formatting of my previous comment is offered as evidence for its content.
Not really that big of a problem, or meant as criticism of MF, but I am the worlds slowest typist and absolutely not a programmer, the HTMLish stuff still is trouble here.
posted by Alter Cocker at 1:10 PM on April 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Not really that big of a problem, or meant as criticism of MF, but I am the worlds slowest typist and absolutely not a programmer, the HTMLish stuff still is trouble here.
posted by Alter Cocker at 1:10 PM on April 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
two-lane country roads being divided by fences along the middle line (motorbikers hate them but they do make a huge difference by preventing head-on crashes)
Mostly wide shoulder two-lane roads that's split up into 2+1 roads with cable barriers (wikipedia has a bit of history).
The barriers are great for cars, but bikers do indeed hate them because they die horribly if they crash into them, or while waiting for an ambulance that never shows up because it's stuck in traffic in one of the narrow 1-lane segments. The barrier wires also occasionally snap after accidents and kill rescue personnel. To get to an actual zero, you have to exclude some people from the equation...
posted by effbot at 1:19 PM on April 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
Mostly wide shoulder two-lane roads that's split up into 2+1 roads with cable barriers (wikipedia has a bit of history).
The barriers are great for cars, but bikers do indeed hate them because they die horribly if they crash into them, or while waiting for an ambulance that never shows up because it's stuck in traffic in one of the narrow 1-lane segments. The barrier wires also occasionally snap after accidents and kill rescue personnel. To get to an actual zero, you have to exclude some people from the equation...
posted by effbot at 1:19 PM on April 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
When waiting at a red light, if you creeped your car forward too far, you wouldn't be able to see your traffic lights anymore
OMG Vancouver please do this
I am tired of having to push my daughter's stroller into the oncoming traffic lane to cross the street because people here don't understand the concept of a stop line
posted by Hoopo at 3:28 PM on April 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
OMG Vancouver please do this
I am tired of having to push my daughter's stroller into the oncoming traffic lane to cross the street because people here don't understand the concept of a stop line
posted by Hoopo at 3:28 PM on April 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
There is a growing movement to implement Vision Zero in the U.S. It seems to be very effective where implemented.
Here are some resources from the Vision Zero Network:
Here are some resources from the Vision Zero Network:
- How does Vision Zero differ from the traditional approach to traffic safety?
- 9 Components of a Strong Vision Zero Commitment
Hej Namlit! I totally get that Sweden is not perfect. If it were, I wouldn't have moved back to the US after 8 years there. But if you spend 8 years here, you may get a better appreciation for how much better Swedes (and the Dutch, apparently, and others, I bet) are at dealing with some issues than Americans are. To be fair, traffic-wise we are doing much better than the Cook Islands (45 deaths per 100,000 people, WTF?), South Africa (33.2), and a bunch of others.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:41 PM on April 29, 2016
posted by Bella Donna at 4:41 PM on April 29, 2016
let’s create a system for the humans instead of trying to adjust the humans to the system.
Seems like perfect first principal for design of almost anything.
The article touched on a number of important ideas that go far beyond traffic, and to me that is one of the big ones. "Human-centered design" is a central concept in one of my favorite books, The Design of Everyday Things. After reading it I now see examples everywhere where engineers and designers try to make people do things a certain way rather than designing for the way people normally act. Traffic and road design is full of great examples. I'll have to ask my brother, a civil engineer, what he thinks about Vision Zero. (He hasn't worked on any roadway projects in a long time, so he may not have much to say about it, though.)
posted by TedW at 5:22 PM on April 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Seems like perfect first principal for design of almost anything.
The article touched on a number of important ideas that go far beyond traffic, and to me that is one of the big ones. "Human-centered design" is a central concept in one of my favorite books, The Design of Everyday Things. After reading it I now see examples everywhere where engineers and designers try to make people do things a certain way rather than designing for the way people normally act. Traffic and road design is full of great examples. I'll have to ask my brother, a civil engineer, what he thinks about Vision Zero. (He hasn't worked on any roadway projects in a long time, so he may not have much to say about it, though.)
posted by TedW at 5:22 PM on April 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Tangentially, the IIHS report Saving Lives: Improved Vehicle Designs Bring Down Death Rates which references Vision Zero, is worth a read.
posted by fairmettle at 9:09 PM on April 29, 2016
posted by fairmettle at 9:09 PM on April 29, 2016
The central idea behind Vision Zero --- that it's anti-utilitarian and that any fatality is unacceptable --- is a piece of good salesmanship, but it's not true. If any death were absolutely unacceptable, you'd outlaw cars, or force people to drive at 10 MPH. There's always a trade-off between safety and efficiency, and they are unwilling to knock efficiency down to a level where they could actually envision zero deaths.
posted by painquale at 1:07 AM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by painquale at 1:07 AM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
The thing that stuck out for me in the article is that in the US you can have a green light on a crossing for pedestrians, but cars can still cross. What on earth? And you make jaywalking illegal? Is that so you can concentrate pedestrians into a smaller area on the crossings to make running them over more efficient?
posted by Vortisaur at 6:00 AM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Vortisaur at 6:00 AM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Paibquale, it's a goal not a requirement. It's asymptotal.
posted by klanawa at 9:19 AM on April 30, 2016
posted by klanawa at 9:19 AM on April 30, 2016
Seattle officially adopted Vision Zero a little while back, but my sense from reading people who occasionally talk about is that it's been lip service lately. There's a real risk of it becoming a checkbox in the list of things the city supports without sustained pressure from advocacy groups or a Mayor who actually cares about it.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 9:27 AM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by vibratory manner of working at 9:27 AM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
And you make jaywalking illegal?
Early steps in NYC's implementation of Vision Zero included NYPD thugs delivering a beatdown to an 84-year old jaywalker.
On the bright side they also put these fenders on City-owned trucks that are supposed to make it so people are more likely to only be hit by the truck in accidents, not completely run over, so I guess that's good.
There's also a little bit of an attempt to render the phrase "traffic accident" politically incorrect.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 9:32 AM on April 30, 2016
Early steps in NYC's implementation of Vision Zero included NYPD thugs delivering a beatdown to an 84-year old jaywalker.
On the bright side they also put these fenders on City-owned trucks that are supposed to make it so people are more likely to only be hit by the truck in accidents, not completely run over, so I guess that's good.
There's also a little bit of an attempt to render the phrase "traffic accident" politically incorrect.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 9:32 AM on April 30, 2016
There's also a little bit of an attempt to render the phrase "traffic accident" politically incorrect.
Accident Implies There's Nobody To Blame
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:31 PM on April 30, 2016
Accident Implies There's Nobody To Blame
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:31 PM on April 30, 2016
If you want to learn more about how Dutch intersections work (without flying there), the Bicycle Dutch youtube channel is a gem.
posted by anthill at 7:34 AM on May 2, 2016
posted by anthill at 7:34 AM on May 2, 2016
« Older You Ask Me for A Hamburger. | It's cold, eh Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Meanwhile in Sweden, an engineer at Volvo is rather unhappy about the way that Tesla markets its current Autopilot system. [While this sounds like sour grapes coming from a competitor, there seems to be a legitimate argument that Tesla provides a dangerous level of automation, overhypes its capabilities, and turns a blind eye to how actual drivers are using it]
posted by schmod at 11:40 AM on April 29, 2016 [5 favorites]