Vision Zero

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Traffic collisions are not accidents.

When councillors and staff talk to Kitchener residents, one of the most common issues raised are concerns about speeding and road safety. We want to make roads, sidewalks and trails in Kitchener safer for all ages, abilities and modes of transportation.

Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads. Our vision is to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero. This concept started in Sweden in 1997 and has become popular around the world.

Here’s how Vision Zero strategies approach road safety:

  • focus on reducing fatal and serious injury collisions
  • collisions are preventable and no preventable loss of life is acceptable
  • human mistakes and errors should be expected and anticipated
  • our transportation network should be designed to account for human mistakes and errors
  • road safety is a shared responsibility among the people who design, maintain, enforce rules on and use roads and intersections
  • proactively address issues before collisions

Our Vision Zero strategy offers guidance on building and designing roads, supporting law enforcement, educating and engaging the public, and finding solutions to the specific concerns in our neighbourhoods.

Learn more about Vision Zero


Vision Zero dashboard

Visit our Vision Zero dashboard to find collision statistics and our progress on Vision Zero.


Stay Informed

To get updates about this project, add your email to the ’Stay Informed’ box and click ‘Subscribe’.




Traffic collisions are not accidents.

When councillors and staff talk to Kitchener residents, one of the most common issues raised are concerns about speeding and road safety. We want to make roads, sidewalks and trails in Kitchener safer for all ages, abilities and modes of transportation.

Vision Zero is a new way of thinking about creating safer roads. Our vision is to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero. This concept started in Sweden in 1997 and has become popular around the world.

Here’s how Vision Zero strategies approach road safety:

  • focus on reducing fatal and serious injury collisions
  • collisions are preventable and no preventable loss of life is acceptable
  • human mistakes and errors should be expected and anticipated
  • our transportation network should be designed to account for human mistakes and errors
  • road safety is a shared responsibility among the people who design, maintain, enforce rules on and use roads and intersections
  • proactively address issues before collisions

Our Vision Zero strategy offers guidance on building and designing roads, supporting law enforcement, educating and engaging the public, and finding solutions to the specific concerns in our neighbourhoods.

Learn more about Vision Zero


Vision Zero dashboard

Visit our Vision Zero dashboard to find collision statistics and our progress on Vision Zero.


Stay Informed

To get updates about this project, add your email to the ’Stay Informed’ box and click ‘Subscribe’.



Ask a question

Do you have a question about Vision Zero? Ask it here.

To protect your privacy:

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  • Do not include any personal information (like your address) in your question  

Before submitting your question, please make sure it meets our etiquette and moderation policy. If it doesn’t, we will not be able to respond.

If your question is urgent, call the City of Kitchener at 519-741-2345 (TTY: 1-866-969-9994)

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  • Share Do you have a cost comparison on the injuries in terms of metrics or just occurrence s on Facebook Share Do you have a cost comparison on the injuries in terms of metrics or just occurrence s on Twitter Share Do you have a cost comparison on the injuries in terms of metrics or just occurrence s on Linkedin Email Do you have a cost comparison on the injuries in terms of metrics or just occurrence s link

    Do you have a cost comparison on the injuries in terms of metrics or just occurrence s

    JoLogicCommonSense asked about 1 year ago

    To assess and compare the financial impact of injuries, both tangible and intangible metrics are taken into account. Tangible costs encompass medical bills and lost earnings, while intangible costs relate to aspects like pain and emotional distress. When considering occurrences, the frequency or number of injury incidents is factored into the cost estimation. The values of statistical life per casualty type can be found at https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/statistics-data/statistics-data-road-safety/2020-statistics-social-costs-collisions-canada.

  • Share you have a list of bicycle injuries (chart) can you relate this to where they happened, bike lanes, traffic lights, road ways, roundabouts, etc. on Facebook Share you have a list of bicycle injuries (chart) can you relate this to where they happened, bike lanes, traffic lights, road ways, roundabouts, etc. on Twitter Share you have a list of bicycle injuries (chart) can you relate this to where they happened, bike lanes, traffic lights, road ways, roundabouts, etc. on Linkedin Email you have a list of bicycle injuries (chart) can you relate this to where they happened, bike lanes, traffic lights, road ways, roundabouts, etc. link

    you have a list of bicycle injuries (chart) can you relate this to where they happened, bike lanes, traffic lights, road ways, roundabouts, etc.

    ward asked about 1 year ago

    The collision data report provides specific details about the location of each incident. This data can be used to associate each collision with its context, such as bike lanes, traffic lights, roundabouts, etc. This information is publicly accessible in the 'collisions' section of Kitchener’s open data repository. The collision data can be found here.

  • Share Who is at fault in these accidents? Why does it always look as if the vehicle driver is at fault? Cyclists not following the laws and pedestrians not paying attention as they walk out on a road. Yes, drivers need to be aware and attentive but cyclists and pedestrians also need to be doing the same. on Facebook Share Who is at fault in these accidents? Why does it always look as if the vehicle driver is at fault? Cyclists not following the laws and pedestrians not paying attention as they walk out on a road. Yes, drivers need to be aware and attentive but cyclists and pedestrians also need to be doing the same. on Twitter Share Who is at fault in these accidents? Why does it always look as if the vehicle driver is at fault? Cyclists not following the laws and pedestrians not paying attention as they walk out on a road. Yes, drivers need to be aware and attentive but cyclists and pedestrians also need to be doing the same. on Linkedin Email Who is at fault in these accidents? Why does it always look as if the vehicle driver is at fault? Cyclists not following the laws and pedestrians not paying attention as they walk out on a road. Yes, drivers need to be aware and attentive but cyclists and pedestrians also need to be doing the same. link

    Who is at fault in these accidents? Why does it always look as if the vehicle driver is at fault? Cyclists not following the laws and pedestrians not paying attention as they walk out on a road. Yes, drivers need to be aware and attentive but cyclists and pedestrians also need to be doing the same.

    tonyst asked about 1 year ago

    Each collision must be evaluated individually to determine the cause. The result of this evaluation can lead to safety improvements and initiatives under the Vision Zero Strategy. While Vision Zero emphasizes all street users have an important role to play for safety, its primary objective is to eliminate collisions leading to serious injuries or fatalities. If any street user makes a mistake, the system should be designed to anticipate and minimize the impact.

  • Share We know that the way we build roads in North America is deadly. Why are we continuing to design and build our roads the same as always, with wide travel lanes, right turns on red lights still permitted, slip lanes still permitted, no pedestrian refuge islands, no smart signalling, no continuous sidewalks, barely any separated bike lanes, and on and on and on. These should all be required in our design standards, and implemented in every new development, and every time we repair or replace roadway. How else will be make durable progress towards safe streets? on Facebook Share We know that the way we build roads in North America is deadly. Why are we continuing to design and build our roads the same as always, with wide travel lanes, right turns on red lights still permitted, slip lanes still permitted, no pedestrian refuge islands, no smart signalling, no continuous sidewalks, barely any separated bike lanes, and on and on and on. These should all be required in our design standards, and implemented in every new development, and every time we repair or replace roadway. How else will be make durable progress towards safe streets? on Twitter Share We know that the way we build roads in North America is deadly. Why are we continuing to design and build our roads the same as always, with wide travel lanes, right turns on red lights still permitted, slip lanes still permitted, no pedestrian refuge islands, no smart signalling, no continuous sidewalks, barely any separated bike lanes, and on and on and on. These should all be required in our design standards, and implemented in every new development, and every time we repair or replace roadway. How else will be make durable progress towards safe streets? on Linkedin Email We know that the way we build roads in North America is deadly. Why are we continuing to design and build our roads the same as always, with wide travel lanes, right turns on red lights still permitted, slip lanes still permitted, no pedestrian refuge islands, no smart signalling, no continuous sidewalks, barely any separated bike lanes, and on and on and on. These should all be required in our design standards, and implemented in every new development, and every time we repair or replace roadway. How else will be make durable progress towards safe streets? link

    We know that the way we build roads in North America is deadly. Why are we continuing to design and build our roads the same as always, with wide travel lanes, right turns on red lights still permitted, slip lanes still permitted, no pedestrian refuge islands, no smart signalling, no continuous sidewalks, barely any separated bike lanes, and on and on and on. These should all be required in our design standards, and implemented in every new development, and every time we repair or replace roadway. How else will be make durable progress towards safe streets?

    mikedoherty asked 12 months ago

    The City of Kitchener adopted Complete Streets design standard in 2019. The City of Kitchener’s Complete Streets Guidelines can be found here. These guidelines include new design standards for all streets being constructed through new development or City-led reconstruction projects. Complete Streets design standards were developed using industry best practices and extensive stakeholder engagement.

Page last updated: 26 Apr 2024, 05:47 PM