The City of Columbus today launched a new public safety effort to not just reduce traffic fatalities but to completely eliminate them. According to the city's statistics, 57 people died in traffic crashes on Columbus streets in 2018, and that number has been increasing over the last five years. Mayor Andy Ginther announced that Vision Zero assumes traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable rather than inevitable.
"Vision Zero takes a holistic, data-driven approach to how we design our streets and our sidewalks and also looks at enforcement, education, engagement, and policy to prevent serious and fatal crashes," Mayor Ginther continued. "The Vision Zero Columbus team will create an action plan by the end of this year to lay out attainable goals for our city. We will work across departments with community stakeholders so that this plan addresses equitable solutions in the near and long term."
Ginther wants a plan that's accountable to residents and allows the city to follow the data and adjust where necessary. Residents can submit their input and identify safety concerns through an online survey. Columbus officials cite the Vision Zero approach's success in other parts of the world. Oslo, Norway, which has a similar-sized population to Columbus, had only one traffic death last year.