Fight death in traffic

For the interactive online world map at www.dekra-vision-zero.com Dekra experts continually evaluate the latest available accident statistics. For a total of 29 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania, the map lists those cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants that have achieved the goal of zero traffic fatalities in at least one year since 2009. This also includes six cities in Austria. Rheine, North Rhine-Westphalia, will receive the Dekra Vision Zero Award 2024. In the city on the Ems with around 78,000 inhabitants, there have been no fatalities in inner-city traffic in nine of the past ten years. The traffic safety experts at Dekra recognize this success with the award, which has been given to European municipalities since 2016. Rainer Steffens, head of the representation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to the EU, accepted the award on behalf of Dekra at the annual reception in Brussels.  

Austria has six successful cities: Salzburg, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Villach, Wels and St. Pölten. Villach and Wels have each recorded zero traffic fatalities in five years. "As a small country, we can already be very proud of six Vision Zero model cities from five different federal states and congratulate them on their great commitment. Our annual Dekra traffic safety report provides valuable and comprehensive input, which we would like to make available to all our Austrian cities and exchange in the important stakeholder dialogue with the association of cities and municipalities," emphasizes Helmut Geil, Managing Director of Dekra Austria. In Germany, a total of 162 cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants have already achieved the goal of zero traffic deaths in urban areas in at least one year since 2009. “I am surprised that we perform so well in a global comparison when it comes to road safety,” said Rheine’s mayor, Dr. Peter Lüttmann about the award. “I am all the more pleased about the fact that the large number of our traffic-safety structural and organizational measures are having such a large and positive effect.” The largest city in Europe to have no traffic fatalities in one year is the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Well over 300,000 people live there.