During the last year in the capital of Finland, Helsinki, not a single fatal case was recorded as a result of a traffic accident. About this informsPolitician.
Even though the total number of road traffic deaths is falling across the EU – by 3% in 2024 – tragic accidents are still common in big cities. A year without a single fatal traffic accident is an exceptional achievement for the metropolis. Traffic engineer Roni Utriainen from the Department of the Urban Environment attributed the achievement to “many factors, but speed limits are one of the most important”.
The city authorities, based on research showing that the probability of a pedestrian being killed is halved when the speed of a car is reduced from 40 to 30 km/h, introduced speed limits in central Helsinki and residential areas in 2021.
Innovations were implemented by installing 70 automatic speed control cameras, as well as strengthened police supervision in accordance with the national strategy “Vision Zero”, which envisages achieving a zero level of deaths and injuries in road accidents. According to the Finnish road safety organization Liikenneturva, the number of fatalities in the city has steadily decreased since the introduction of the new rules.
Helsinki has also invested in improving infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, including the creation of more than 1,500 km of cycle paths. In addition, the city expanded its public transport network by introducing self-driving buses that run on environmentally friendly energy sources, and received financing from the European Investment Bank for a new tram line. According to statistics, between 2003 and 2023, the number of people injured in traffic accidents in Helsinki decreased from 727 to only 14.
