Vision Zero

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What is It?

The purpose of the NWA Vision Zero Plan is to emphasize change related to traffic safety in order to achieve the policy goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy and equitable mobility for all.

In support of this goal, the Fayetteville City Council adopted a Vision Zero Policy through the approval of Resolution 148-23 on July 6, 2023.

Background

Streets and transportation systems have traditionally been designed primarily to move cars efficiently and Vision Zero supports a paradigm shift by designing streets and transportation systems to move all people safely, including people of all ages and abilities.

Traffic crashes are among the leading cause of deaths in the United States. From 2017 to 2021, 26 people in Fayetteville lost their lives to traffic deaths and 193 were seriously injured. According to data from the Arkansas Department of Transportation, non-motorists including pedestrians and bicyclists account for 8 of the 26 (31%) of the traffic deaths in Fayetteville. However, no loss of life or serious injury is acceptable on our streets.

Northwest Arkansas Safety Action Plan cover, June 2023 version

Goals

The City of Fayetteville has adopted the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

The Vision Zero model resolution commits Fayetteville to the following actions:

  • Actively working to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on our streets.
  • Collecting, analyzing and using data to understand trends and potential disproportionate effects of traffic deaths on specific populations.
  • Incorporate Vision Zero as part of the duties of the Active Transportation Advisory Committee to promote the Safety Action Plan that is guided by community input.
  • Prioritizing the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, scooter riders and people with disabilities over the ease of use of personal automobiles.
  • Prioritizing strategies that benefit the safety of communities in historically underinvested areas and ensuring that no strategy results in racial profiling or otherwise exacerbates racial inequalities.
Safe Systems Framework thumbnail

Safe System Approach

This plan is grounded in the Safe System Approach, which aims to eliminate death and serious injury by anticipating human mistakes and minimizing impacts on the human body.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Safe System Approach is "the guiding paradigm to address roadway safety. The Safe System Approach has been embraced by the transportation community as an effective way to address and mitigate the risks inherent in our enormous and complex transportation system."

Six principles make up the approach: death and serious injury is unacceptable, humans make mistakes, humans are vulnerable, responsibility is shared, safety is proactive and redundancy is critical. We can implement these principles through five elements: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads and post-crash care.

Traffic Crash Heat Map

Open the interactive Traffic Crash Heat Map to view information on accidents that occurred within the Fayetteville city limits from 2017 to 2021, including accident location, level of severity, modes of transportation involved and more.

Data Source: Arkansas Department of Transportation.

Traffic Crash heat map of Fayetteville Arkansas as of August 2023

Contact Information

Dane Eifling
Engineering Division
Mobility Coordinator
479-575-8243
Email

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