Road Safety Policy in Addis Ababa: A Vision Zero Perspective

Abebe, Henok Girma · 2022 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3390/su14095318

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Summary

This paper examines road safety policies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, through the lens of the Swedish Vision Zero (VZ) framework to identify gaps and propose necessary paradigm shifts. The study is motivated by the severe public health crisis of road traffic crashes in low-income countries, particularly in Addis Ababa, where fatalities have increased by an average of 6% annually between 2010 and 2016, with over 80% of victims being pedestrians. The author argues that current approaches are insufficient and that a systemic redesign is required to achieve sustainable safety improvements. The methodology employs qualitative policy content analysis of three key government documents: the Addis Ababa Transport Policy (2012), the Road Safety Strategy 2017–2030, and the Non-Motorized Transport Strategy 2019–2028. These documents are assessed against the VZ model, which serves as a normative benchmark. The analysis focuses on four dimensions: problem framing, goal setting, intervention strategies, and responsibility ascription. Additionally, an informal interview with a former mayor of Addis Ababa provided contextual insights into policy implementation and local perceptions of road safety challenges. The findings reveal a fundamental divergence between the Addis Ababa approach and the Vision Zero philosophy. While VZ frames road safety as a systemic issue where fatalities result from defective system design that fails to account for human fallibility and physical fragility, Addis Ababa’s policies primarily frame crashes as individual user errors. Consequently, responsibility for safety in Addis Ababa is largely placed on individual road users through education and enforcement, whereas VZ assigns primary responsibility to "system designers," including road administrators, vehicle manufacturers, and transport authorities. Furthermore, Addis Ababa’s goal setting lacks the absolute ethical commitment to zero fatalities and serious injuries central to VZ, instead relying on relative reduction targets. The interventions promoted in Addis Ababa remain heavily focused on behavioral modification rather than the systemic management of kinetic energy, such as speed limits based on infrastructure safety or mandatory vehicle safety standards. The significance of this study lies in its call for a paradigm shift in Addis Ababa’s road safety governance. The author concludes that to secure long-term solutions, the city must adopt a systemic approach that recognizes the inherent vulnerability of road users. This requires redesigning the transport system to prevent fatal outcomes from human error, thereby shifting responsibility from individuals to the entities that design and operate the road network. The paper suggests that integrating VZ principles—specifically regarding responsibility ascription and systemic design—could help Addis Ababa move beyond "business as usual" and align with global best practices for sustainable urban mobility.

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• traffic safety culture