The Vision Zero Handbook

This open access handbook provides a comprehensive treatment of Vision Zero, an innovative policy on public road safety developed in Sweden. Covering all the major topics of the subject, the book starts out with a thorough examination of the philosophy, ideas and principles behind Vision Zero. It looks at conditions for the effectiveness of the policy, principles of safety and responsibility as well as critique on the policy. Next, the handbook focuses on how the Vision Zero ideas have been received and implemented in various legislations and countries worldwide. It takes into account the way Vision Zero is looked at in the context of international organizations such as the WHO, the UN, and the OECD. This allows for a comparison of systems, models and effects. The third part of the handbook discusses the management and leadership aspects, including ISO standards, equity issues, other goals for traffic and transportation, and opportunities for the car industry. Part four delves into tools, technologies and organizational measures that contribute to the implementation of Vision Zero in road traffic. Examples of specific elements discussed are urban and rural road designs, human factor designs, and avoiding drunk and distracted driving. The final part of the handbook offers perspectives on the transfer of Vision Zero policy to other areas, ranging from air traffic to suicide prevention and nuclear energy.

Vision Zero is a public road safety policy including both a long-term goal that no one shall be killed or seriously injured as a consequence of accidents in road traffic and a safety principle stating that the design and function of the road transport system shall be adapted to meet the requirements that follow from that goal. It is a new road safety paradigm which has resulted in new types of responsibilities among stakeholders, technological innovations, and new strategies and organizational measures to achieve a safe system. The road safety work based on Vision Zero has shown promising results, and although Sweden has not yet reached a safe system, the number of fatalities and severe injuries has decreased substantially.

This is an open access book.

Karin Edvardsson Björnberg is associate professor of environmental philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and History at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. She has led several research projects on goal-setting in climate adaptation, delay mechanisms in environmental policy, and ethics of biodiversity offsetting. She takes an interest in risk and safety issues and has published articles on EU regulation of genetically modified crops and goal-setting in road traffic safety policy. She currently serves as scientific expert at the Swedish Ethical Review Authority and is vice director of third cycle education at the School of Architecture and the Built Environment (KTH).

Sven Ove Hansson is professor emeritus in philosophy at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. He is a leading researcher in the philosophy of risk and safety. He is a leading researcher in the philosophy of risk and safety. He is also active in other areas of philosophy, in particular the philosophy of science and technology, decision theory, logic, and moral and political philosophy. He is editor-in-chief of Theoria and of the two book series Outstanding Contributions to Logic and Philosophy, Technology, and Society. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and past president of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. Hansson has published 17 books and about 400 papers in refereed international journals and books. His books include The Ethics of Risk (2013), The Ethics of Technology: Methods and Approaches (edited, 2017), and Responsibility for Health (2022).

Matts-Åke Belin is adjunct professor at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, and he has worked as senior policy advisor at the Swedish Transport Administration where he was responsible for the development of Vision Zero Academy. Since January 2022, Dr. Belin has joined the World Health Organization where he will be leading efforts by WHO to support member states and other global actors in the implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.

Claes Tingvall is adjunct professor at the Division of Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems, Chalmers University of Technology, and at the Accident Research Centre, Monash University. He is also a Senior Consultant at the engineering and design company AFRY. Previously, as Director of Traffic Safety at the Swedish Transport Administration, he had a decisive role in the creation of Vision Zero. He continues to have a leading role in international discussions on Vision Zero and traffic safety in general