As a large city, there is plenty of traffic in Denver, Colorado. Where there is traffic, there inevitably are accidents. Denver has its share of traffic accidents with many of them involving pedestrians and cyclists. These are dangerous and sometimes result in a fatality. Vision Zero is a traffic safety program implemented by the city.
The Danger
When a motor vehicle is involved in an accident, it can be serious. However drivers are inside of the vehicle and cars are built with safety features such as crumple zones in the body, seat belts and airbags. Many accidents do not result in injury and simply require auto body repair Denver CO. Pedestrians and cyclists have no such safety features. Their bodies are exposed to the full brunt of the collision with nothing to absorb the impact or protect their bodies. These accidents nearly always result in serious injury or a fatality. A different approach is needed.
Vision Zero
In 2017, Denver mayor Mark Hancock introduced the initiative, Vision Zero. Its ambitious goal is the elimination of all traffic accident fatalities by 2030. The plan of attack for Vision Zero is to increase the safety level of city streets by reducing speed limits, widening sidewalks and accumulating comprehensive data on accidents. The number of serious traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists dropped from 720 in 2014 to 495 in 2020.
The total number of fatalities did not drop however so Mayor Hancock lowered the speed limits on five additional streets downtown. According to data collected the number of serious accidents has gotten lower between 2018 and 2020.
Traffic accidents are dangerous and can inflict severe harm, especially when they involve people who are not in a motor vehicle. Denver’s Vision Zero initiative appears to be on the right track for reducing the number of serious crashes. The hope is that the goal of zero will be reached by the target year 2030.