The Daily Populous Saturday August 2nd, 2025 morning edition
Authored by yle.fi and submitted by Jojuj

Helsinki traffic engineer Roni Utriainen emphasised that credit belongs to everyone on the road — motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

A city traffic engineer credits the success to lower speed limits and smarter design.

Helsinki has not recorded a single traffic fatality in the past 12 months, city and police officials confirmed this week.

The city's most recent fatal accident occurred in early July 2024 on Keinulaudantie in the city's Kontula district.

Authorities are calling the situation exceptional.

"A lot of factors contributed to this, but speed limits are one of the most important," said Roni Utriainen, a traffic engineer with the city's Urban Environment Division.

According to Utriainen, more than half of Helsinki's streets now have a speed limit of 30 km/h. Fifty years ago, that proportion featured 50 km/h limits.

Earlier this summer, Helsinki decided to lower speed limits near schools to 30 km/h, a measure that is set to take effect as the academic year begins.

Street design has also played a key role. Pedestrian and cycling infrastructure has been significantly upgraded in recent years. In addition, cooperation with traffic police has intensified and more traffic cameras and automated enforcement systems have been introduced.

"Public transport in Helsinki is excellent, which reduces car use, and with it, the number of serious accidents," Utriainen noted.

Vehicle technology has also improved, making both cars and other personal transport options safer than ever.

The positive trend extends beyond fatalities. In the past year, there were 277 injury-causing traffic accidents in Helsinki — a sharp contrast to the nearly 1,000 injurious accidents recorded annually in the late 1980s, when traffic deaths in the city commonly approached 30 per year.

Helsinki's current traffic safety strategy, covering 2022–2026, is nearing completion. It has focused on improving safety for children, youth, pedestrians and cyclists with safer crosswalks and smarter intersection design.

Much of the planning has been data-driven, enabled by improved traffic monitoring tools.

Utriainen credited the improvement to decades of sustained effort.

"The direction has been positive for years," he said, pointing out that no pedestrians were killed in Helsinki traffic in 2019 either.

Traffic education has also improved, but Utriainen emphasised that credit belongs to everyone on the road — motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

One newer challenge has been the widespread use of electric scooters.

"They became popular around five years ago, somewhat unexpectedly. But since then, many solutions have been put in place," Utriainen said.

The EU's long-term goal is zero traffic deaths by 2050 — a policy dubbed "Vision Zero." Is it achievable or wishful thinking?

"For us, it's more about how the goal guides our everyday actions," said Utriainen. "We aim to assess all our decisions based on their long-term impact."

reynhaim on August 1st, 2025 at 18:28 UTC »

Consider also that in Helsinki most kids from age 7 walk to school on their own. Driving kids to school is discouraged and every morning from 8 to 10 you see hordes of children making their way to school. My now 4 year old has cycled her daycare trips for the past two years, with an adult of course.

Helsinki has decreased the speed limits a lot in residential areas lately. Driving through suburbs the limit is often 30kmh. Many people sadly drive faster still but I suppose speeding speeds have decreased as well, since the punishment for getting caught in bad cases is rather severe: you get a fine based on your income.

Firstpoet on August 1st, 2025 at 18:17 UTC »

Nearly all built since 1900 and most of that since 1960s. Population of 1.5m in Greater Helsinki. eg lots of space built in for integrated travel systems from the start.

I love Helsinki. It has great advantages over many European cities with layers of history

gallowstorm on August 1st, 2025 at 18:06 UTC »

Further proof humans can solve problems if they collectively prioritize it, value it, spend resources on it.