How Sweden has cut traffic fatalities to zero

[Slick Vik]

I'm in Minneapolis right now and I'm very impressed with the thought that's been given to bicyclists and pedestrians. It makes for a better city.

[kylejack]

I'm in Minneapolis right now and I'm very impressed with the thought that's been given to bicyclists and pedestrians. It makes for a better city.

 

That whole metroplex has an outstanding bicycle network. https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9694218,-93.3028805,12z/data=!5m1!1e3

[DNAguy]

I think that while zero fatalities is an admirable goal, I don't think it's fair to immediately start pointing fingers at automobiles and blame them for traffic fatalities--yes, cars ARE involved in the most accidents, but while it's the largest automobile that "wins" (because no one actually "wins" in an accident), it doesn't mean that it's always their fault. In other words, drivers can't be babysitters at 20 in downtown streets because Baby doesn't know when/where to cross the street.

 

 

Before you respond, it is worth noting about my own experiences with this: a pedestrian-heavy (bars mostly) district did some work in the area so the end result was that the main road had a speed of 35-40 (can't remember exactly) with a wall (the wall replacing some parallel parking, which became a wider sidewalk) and pedestrian signals that announced "Wait" and the time left, while a side street (two way) has a speed of 20 mph. The area is also crawling with cops due to the increased crime at night.

I don't know the results of any deaths or not, but there's some things done to make things safer.

 

i like the approach in the second post. Engineering a solution to a problem w/ a common sense approach. People are less likely to cross a street w/out protection if they know how much time to 'Wait'. Walls to protect pedestrians, etc.

 

And I don't think I'm assigning blame to automobiles exclusively. I'm blaming the attitude and status quo we've come to accept. We (I find myself doing this too so I'm not above blame) feel entitled in cars. What we need to remember is that pedestrians have the right to cross roads and bikers have the same rights as automobiles to said road.

 

It all comes down to culture, and culture is extremely hard to change. Any CEO will tell you this. The government (fed, state, local) has to step in b/c people don't naturally change or if they do, its WAY to slow. We can engineer solutions to help people make the right decisions in vehicles, as pedestrians, and as cyclists. There is no invisible hand when it comes safety.