DEKRA Vision Zero Award 2022
Nine years with zero traffic fatalities: Award for Finnish city of Mikkeli
The Finnish city of Mikkeli has been awarded the DEKRA Vision Zero Award. The road safety experts from the leading international expert organization are recognizing the city's success in not having a single traffic fatality in urban traffic for nine consecutive years from 2012 to 2020. DEKRA presented the award for the sixth time at its annual reception in Brussels. Mikkeli's Director of Land Use and Planning, Topiantti Äikäs, accepted the award from DEKRA CEO Stan Zurkiewicz.
- Target of zero road fatalities achieved in many cities around the world
- Interactive map at www.dekra-vision-zero.com with 26 countries
- City representative: “Concrete prize for long-lasting objective”
DEKRA experts continuously evaluate the latest available accident statistics for the interactive world map at www.dekra-vision-zero.com. For a total of 26 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. Mikkeli has a population of about 54,000.
“In Mikkeli, we have been working for road safety for many years. Mikkeli is a normal, medium-sized Finnish city where the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, cars, and other traffic are taken into account equally in urban planning and development. This award is the concrete prize of that long-lasting objective we have been working towards,” Land Use Director Äikäs said.
“Time and again, our award winners and many other cities around the world prove that Vision Zero is possible,” said DEKRA CEO Stan Zurkiewicz. “Around 1,200 cities have achieved ‘zero traffic deaths’ in at least one year; and many have done so for several years. The fact remains, however, that every person killed on the road is one too many.” Efforts had to continue to get closer and closer to the goal of zero traffic fatalities in more and more cities and also outside urban living spaces, Zurkiewicz said.
In many places, those efforts are underway. For example, the Greek government – inspired in part by DEKRA's Vision Zero map – has set a target in the current draft of its road safety strategy to reach zero traffic fatalities in at least 40 cities over 50,000 inhabitants every year by 2025. By 2030, the target is 49 cities.
In Finland, Mikkeli is one of 18 cities to have achieved the goal of zero traffic fatalities in at least one year since 2009. It is the only Finnish city with a total of ten “zero years”.
DEKRA has entered the vehicle inspection market in Finland a bit more than a year ago in October 2021. One of the DEKRA inspection stations is located in Mikkeli.