One European Capital Had Zero Traffic Deaths in Past Year

A city without traffic deaths? Finland's capital can now make that claim to fame, after a full year without any such fatalities. Police and city officials confirm this "exceptional" stat, noting that the last traffic death in the city was in July of last year, in the Kontula neighborhood, reports Finnish broadcaster YLE. Injuries have dropped drastically, too, with 277 traffic injuries over the past year. All this compares with the late '80s, when it wasn't uncommon for 1,000 deaths to be logged annually.

Experts attribute the accomplishment to various factors, "but speed limits are one of the most important," says Roni Utriainen, a traffic engineer employed by the city. Politico notes that, after pointing out that the risk of being killed while walking around Helsinki could be slashed in half by simply lowering the speed limit from about 25mph to 18mph, the city set that lower limit in Helsinki's city center and in the majority of the city's residential areas, enforcing the limits with 70 new speed cameras.

Street design and other infrastructure improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists have also helped, as have boosts to Helsinki's public transportation systems. "Public transport in Helsinki is excellent, which reduces car use, and with it, the number of serious accidents," Utriainen tells YLE. The city's efforts fall under Finland's broader "Vision Zero" initiative, which aims to cut traffic deaths and serious injuries down to nothing in the nation "by creating multiple layers of protection," per Forbes.