Sushila Dhall, chair of Oxford Pedestrians Association, examines Vision Zero, a plan to reduce road deaths on Oxfordshire’s roads, and considers how it could be improved to boost safety for pedestrians and all road users.

VISION Zero is a plan aiming to reduce fatalities and severe injuries resulting from collisions on roads to zero.

In Oxford the aim is to reduce them to zero in Oxfordshire by 2050, with interim targets of a 25% reduction by 2026 and a 50% reduction by 2030.

The proposals in Oxfordshire are to take a multi-pronged approach, with five areas of work: Safe Roads and Roadsides is the first, meaning roads with traffic calming features built in, safe clear crossings and signage, and segregated cycle lanes where possible.

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Then there are Safe Vehicles, which means motorised vehicles with automatic emergency braking and other features which aim to protect vehicle occupants from injury or death in the event of a collision.

Safe Speeds is about speed reduction - most of Oxford’s streets are now 20mph but speeding is an issue, and arterial routes are still 30mph.

Safe Users is about educating all road users, and Post Collision Response is about providing care as well as learning from what happened and taking steps to ensure this cannot happen again.

Vision Zero is global movement that started in Sweden in the 1990’s and has gained traction in European countries and the USA over the past 30 years.

Now it has come to Oxfordshire, where there is a strong focus on encouraging cycling, walking, and getting out and about in wheelchairs, and making these modes of transport safer by paying attention to the street environment.

Oxford Pedestrians Association welcomes the overall aims and areas of work, whilst strongly holding that 2050 is a very long time to wait for no road deaths.

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Perhaps reducing traffic speeds, air pollution and congestion may be more quickly achieved with an Oxford congestion charge and very low speed limits?

We also see areas which would need attention if walking and wheeling are to be safer; pavements need to be wide enough - currently pedestrians spill into busy roads where pavements are not wide enough, such as the routes between Oxford rail station and the city centre.

The same is true of Banbury rail station and routes from there to Banbury centre, and whilst Bicester rail station leads straight into Bicester Village via fancy ramps and walkways, if you want to walk to the nearby garden centre or other amenities, pedestrians are once again on narrow pavements and crossing very busy junctions.

Wider pavements for all would be our first call. OxPA’s second call would be for 20mph throughout Oxford, and lower on streets where children play.

Oxford Mail: Junctions often need attention and crossings are very often off the desire line which means pedestrians in a hurry need to detour and then often wait.

Walking and wheeling routes need to be more continuous if walking and wheeling are to be taken seriously as forms of transport.

The aims of Vision Zero are laudable and need to be supported (despite being very long term), but without wider, unobstructed, level and safe routes which are as continuous as roads, walking will always be seen and treated as a poor cousin of being inside a metal vehicle.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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