No Loss of Life is Acceptable – Vision Zero Road Safety Approach Approved by Council

City Council passed a resolution this week to adopt Vision Zero, a framework that focuses on the prevention of fatalities and injuries due to motor vehicle collisions.

“Safety on Mississauga’s roads is the responsibility of the City,” said Pat Saito, Councillor, Ward 9 and Chair of the Road Safety Committee. “Vision Zero came about from the belief that no loss of life is an acceptable price for travelling on our roads.”

Support for the program was initially brought forward by the recently reinstated Road Safety Committee which approved adopting the framework to make Mississauga roads safer to drive, walk and cycle on.

Many Canadian municipalities have adopted Vision Zero including, Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton and most recently, the Region of Peel in December 2017.

According to Saito, the difference between the City’s motion and Peel’s recently approved framework is the timing to determine the program’s ultimate goals.

“Mississauga roads are different than those in other municipalities so it makes sense that we give ourselves time to evaluate the program instead of choosing an arbitrary number of fatality and injury reductions that we hope to see in the coming years,” added Saito.

By adopting Vision Zero, staff will start to look at major arterial roadways, noted Saito. These potential changes may not be popular with people that want to zip through a community without any consideration for pedestrians or cyclists.

“Road safety is our primary concern,” said Geoff Wright, Commissioner, Transportation and Works.  “In addition to our recently developed Road Safety Program, we will begin developing a work plan that will lay out how we will achieve Vision Zero through education, enforcement and engineering and what resources will be required to do so.”

“I am enthusiastic that we can move forward and make our roads much, much safer,” added Saito.

Background

Vision Zero is a concept based on shared responsibilities among partners involved in the road system including politicians, planners, police, community organizations, vehicle manufacturing companies, companies and organizations that purchase transport services and all road users.

Some areas of focus may include:
• Reducing impaired driving
• Implementing safer speed limits
• Improving road infrastructure
• Enhancing pedestrian and cyclist safety
• Road infrastructure changes

Tags

• Public Safety
• Roads and Traffic