Example to imitate the Helsinki which for a year has not recorded not even a deadly car accident, As municipal officials revealed this week.

Although traffic accidents are reduced throughout the EU, with a decrease of 3% in 2024, tragic accidents are still common in metropolitan areas. But spending a whole year, however, without such an accident is a remarkable achievement for most cities – let alone a European capital.

In 2023, 7.807 Europeans lost their lives in traffic accidents In EU cities, according to figures cited by Politico. Fifty -five people died in traffic accidents in Berlin last year and nine people have died in conflict in the Brussels area for the past 12 months.

While Helsinki is one of the smallest EU capitals, with just below 690,000 inhabitants, About 1.5 million people live and move across the metropolitan area.

Roni Utriannen, a traffic engineer in the city’s urban environment, told the Finnish press that the achievement was due to “many factors … but the speed limits He is one of the most important. “

Citing data showing that the risk of pedestrian deaths is reduced to half by reducing the speed of an impact of a car from 40 to 30 kilometers per hour, municipal officials imposed the lowest limit on most residential areas and in the center of the city of Helsinki in 2021.

The boundaries were imposed with 70 new speed cameras and a policing strategy based on national policy “vision of zero”, with the aim of achieving zero injuries or deaths from traffic accidents. The data collected by Liikeneturva, the Finland Road Safety Body, show that traffic accidents in Helsinki have since been reduced.

European model

Helsinki authorities have spent over the past five years trying to reproduce the miracle they first achieved 2019, When no pedestrian or cyclist was killed in traffic accidents.

Ronnie Utriannen stressed that the success of the mission is due to long -term mobility policies based on urban development data and strategies. For example, in many parts of the city, Roads are narrowed and trees planted In order to make drivers feel uncomfortable – on the grounds that complex urban landscapes force drivers to move more carefully in residential areas.

The city also has Invest in new infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclistsincluding an integrated bicycle network extending over 1,500 kilometers. It has strengthened its public transport network by carbon -free buses and autonomously, and has received funding from the European Investment Bank for a new tram line.

Helsinki’s success is perceived in Brussels, where the European Commission is under pressure to reduce traffic accidents. Earlier this year, the Greek Transport Commissioner Apostle Tzitzikostas He noted that most member states were not on the right track to achieve the EU’s 2018 goal, ie a reduction in half of traffic accidents related by 2030.