How to Improve Road Safety:
Strategies for Cities and Urban Areas

Global road safety: An urban imperative

Throughout this article, we will explore how cities can spearhead road safety initiatives, from implementing Vision Zero action plans to utilizing advanced road traffic safety technologies.  
Additionally, we'll examine proven road safety measures that have successfully reduced fatalities in urban environments across the globe. 

Understanding the Urban Road Safety Challenge

Why cities face higher road safety risks

The urban road safety landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade. While rural areas historically recorded higher fatality rates, urban traffic deaths have steadily increased, creating new challenges for city planners and transportation officials. 

The density and complexity of urban environments create unique safety challenges. In 2022, 32% of crash deaths in urban areas in the U.S. occurred at intersections, compared with only 16% in rural locations. Furthermore, more than 80% of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities happen in urban areas, highlighting the vulnerability of non-motorized road users in city environments.

Speed remains a critical factor in urban road safety, with 29% of urban crash deaths involving speeding. Although cities have fewer high-speed roads, the mix of different road users sharing limited space creates complex risk scenarios.

What is road safety in the urban context? 

Urban road safety encompasses strategies and interventions specifically aimed at reducing traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities in city environments. The challenge in cities is particularly acute for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists who represent the majority of fatalities in urban traffic collisions. Ensuring safe urban mobility thus demands a comprehensive strategy that prioritizes protecting these vulnerable groups while balancing the diverse needs of all road users. 

To effectively tackle this complexity, the Safe System approach - endorsed by the European Road Safety Observatory - provides a valuable framework. It explicitly acknowledges human error as inevitable and emphasizes designing forgiving infrastructure to minimize crash severity. Instead of solely responding to accidents after they occur, this approach proactively implements multiple layers of protection through thoughtful roadway design and supportive policies.

The Role of Road Safety Data Analysis in City Planning

Systematic collection and analysis of road safety data serve as the foundation for effective urban safety planning. Cities must gather comprehensive data on crashes, mobility patterns, and risk factors to make informed decisions about infrastructure investments and policy priorities. 

A well-designed road safety database should include: 

• Crash location and circumstance details
• Hospital injury data (beyond police reports)
• Traffic volume and mobility pattern information
• Behavioral and enforcement data 

By analyzing this data, cities can pinpoint high-risk locations, understand crash patterns, and evaluate the effectiveness of safety interventions. Advanced analytical tools, including GIS mapping to visualize crash hotspots and predictive analytics to anticipate potential safety issues before crashes occur, increasingly play a crucial role in urban planning.

Turn traffic data into safer streets: With PTV Visum Safety, you can collect, integrate, and analyze crash, mobility, and behavioral data to identify high-risk areas and evaluate safety measures. Build the foundation for effective, data-driven urban safety strategies.

Crucially, data analysis is not an end in itself but rather informs practical design solutions. Insights derived from systematic data collection and analysis directly shape how existing streets and intersections are adapted and retrofitted to enhance safety. 

Designing Safer Streets for All Users

Effective street design is the practical application of road safety data insights, forming the cornerstone of urban road safety. It translates evidence-based strategies into tangible solutions, creating environments where all road users can travel safely, regardless of their mode of transportation. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most impactful tools and design strategies used to create safer streets for everyone:

Implementing Vision Zero and Safe System Approaches

The bold premise behind Vision Zero is straightforward: traffic deaths are preventable, not inevitable. 

What is Vision Zero and how cities adopt it

Vision Zero originated in Sweden in the 1990s as a strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. This approach represents a fundamental shift from traditional safety methods by acknowledging that severe crashes are preventable. Initially, cities adopt Vision Zero through public commitments from high-ranking officials as mayors, city councils, or city managers, who set clear goals and timelines for eliminating roadway fatalities. Since 2014, the movement has gained significant momentum across the United States, with over 50 communities making formal commitments as of 2021. 

Safe System principles in urban environments

The Safe System approach forms the foundation of successful Vision Zero implementation. This framework operates on six key principles: 

1. Death and serious injuries are unacceptable
2. Humans make mistakes
3. Humans are vulnerable
4. Responsibility is shared 
   (Traffic safety is not only the responsibility of individual road users, but also of system designers, such as: Urban planners, Road authorities, Vehicle manufacturers, Policymakers, Law enforcement)
5. Safety is proactive
6. Redundancy is crucial 
   (Traffic safety should not rely on a single measure. Multiple, overlapping safety layers are needed to prevent serious injuries or deaths when human errors occur)

The Safe System approach identifies five mutually reinforcing elements: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads, and post-crash care. These elements work together to create a transport system that anticipates human error and minimizes the consequences of mistakes. This is particularly critical in complex urban environments where diverse modes of transport intersect.

Successful implementation of Vision Zero on city-level

Several cities demonstrate Vision Zero's effectiveness through road safety data analysis and proactive interventions. Sweden has reduced severe injuries and deaths by half since implementation. New York City saw a 44% drop in pedestrian deaths and 27% decline in overall traffic fatalities since adopting Vision Zero in 2014. Jersey City achieved zero traffic deaths in 2022 through tactical interventions across six corridors. Edmonton reduced serious injuries by 17% and traffic deaths by 41% in just three years through comprehensive signage improvements and intersection redesigns.

Tools for proactive traffic safety management

Effective urban road safety doesn’t end with identifying risks - it’s about anticipating risks and preventing crashes before they happen. Today, cities are increasingly turning to smart tools and data-driven technologies to support this shift from reactive to proactive safety management. From infrastructure audits to real-time monitoring and predictive analytics, a new generation of solutions is helping urban planners make informed, timely, and targeted decisions.