Another Great Government Promise: We will End Traffic Deaths...

And I have some swampland in Phoenix to sell you...

Vision Zero: Because Slogans Stop Cars

Every now and then, a government idea comes along that is so stupid it deserves to be framed in a museum next to New Coke and the Edsel. Vision Zero is one of those ideas.

Here is the pitch. In 2014, Bill de Blasio, the mayor who could not keep a subway running or a sidewalk clean, announced New York City would eliminate all traffic deaths in ten years. Zero. None. Like cars and trucks would suddenly obey magical Scandinavian thoughts.

By the time he left office, traffic deaths were up twenty-six percent. That is not zero. That is the exact opposite of zero.

Then Eric Garcetti in Los Angeles jumped on the bandwagon. He solemnly declared he would “bring traffic deaths to zero by 2025.” Cue the sad trombone. Traffic deaths climbed from 245 to 368. That is not just failure. That is failure with a side of embarrassment.

Washington D.C.? Same story. Mayor Bowser promised zero deaths by 2024. Instead, the city hit a sixteen-year high. San Francisco? Also Vision Zero. Also highest deaths in a decade. Portland, Austin? Ditto.

If traffic deaths were a stock, Vision Zero turned them into a bull market.

Meanwhile, consultants made a fortune. They sold bike lanes to cities that barely had cyclists. They held PowerPoints and workshops about “philosophy.” They painted crosswalks and threw parties for themselves while real enforcement fell apart because apparently stopping reckless drivers is less fashionable than making TikTok-friendly streets.

And the inspiration for all of this? Sweden. A country with more moose than Manhattan has pigeons. Vision Zero was designed for frozen highways where the leading cause of wrecks is a 1,200-pound animal wandering into traffic. Sweden literally has a Moose Injury Fund that covers collisions with moose, boar, wolves, wolverines, and eagles. Yes. Eagles.

America does not have a moose problem. We have a moron problem.