Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Stockholm

Streetfilms: Talking Traffic Safety at the Home of Vision Zero

3:45 PM EDT on August 8, 2014

Clarence Eckerson shot this great interview with Mary Beth Kelly of Families for Safe Streets and Claes Tingvall, director of traffic safety for the Swedish Transport Administration.

On Queen Street in Stockholm, a car-free plaza once "choked" with vehicle traffic, and standing within sight of the parliament building where Vision Zero took shape in the 1990s, Tingvall and Kelly discuss street safety policy for the 21st century.

"It’s about time the victims of everything we did wrong get a voice," says Tingvall. "We want safe mobility for the elderly, for children, for anyone in the community."

Tingvall says Vision Zero in Sweden involves “moving responsibility upwards” -- holding fleet owners, like taxi companies, accountable for street safety, and not just individual drivers. “Safety becomes part of the market, rather than enforcement and punishment and other things -- sure this is important -- but in the end it’s going to be the leadership who really pick up all those norms first.”

With the advent of Vision Zero, says Tingvall, came the realization that mobility and safety are not mutually exclusive. "We as people today, I think we are not willing to sacrifice one thing for another benefit. Or that some should sacrifice so that someone else is getting a benefit. That time is over."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Can We Just Keep Cars Off the Queensbridge Baby Greenway?

Why do we allow car drivers to park on greenways, in parks and on tree beds?

March 29, 2024

Maximum Rage: Delivery Workers Protest Low Wages, App ‘Lockouts’

Couriers with bikes and signs urge the city to step in as Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash withhold work, they say.

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Company That Fought McGuinness Safety Project Wants to Seize Bklyn Street for Private Backlot

Broadway Stages to Greenpoint residents: "Street safety for me, not for thee."

March 28, 2024
See all posts