NWA Regional Vision Zero
Because no one should die or be seriously injured on our roadways
Safety in NWA
Something needs to change.
42,915 lives were lost on US roads in 2021
That's a 10.5% increase just since 2020
690 lives were lost on Arkansas roads in 2021
An 8.2% increase from 2020
55 lives were lost on roads in our region in 2021
A 2% increase from 2020
Even one life lost is one too many.
A Regional Vision
Every year, people in the NWA Region lose family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to preventable traffic crashes on our roads.
For the last century, our transportation system has been built on the belief that these crashes are accidents – events no one can fully prevent or predict.
Vision Zero is a traffic safety philosophy that lays out a new set of principles for engineering roads, educating travelers, and creating a sense of collective responsibility for ourselves and our fellow travelers. Our vision is zero because no one should be killed or severely injured by traffic crashes.
A Regional Safety Action Plan
While individual communities have been working diligently to make roads safer, eliminating traffic deaths and severe injuries will require a coordinated effort to address the systemic issues that cause these collisions.
The Regional Safety Action Plan will lay out recommendations for projects, policies, and programs to eliminate fatal and severe injury crashes on our streets and set up opportunities for future funding.
Scroll down to learn more about the Safe Systems Approach.
Paradigm Shift
The Northwest Arkansas Regional Vision Zero Plan represents a shift in the region's approach to road safety. It begins with a simple idea: traffic deaths and severe injuries are preventable.
The Safe System Approach
The plan is grounded a Safe Systems Approach, which aims to eliminate fatal and severe injuries by:
1. Anticipating human mistakes 2. Keeping impacts on the human body at tolerable levels
This graphic presents the principles and elements that make up the Safe Systems Approach.
Six Principles
The six Safe System Principles shown around the outside ring are the fundamental beliefs that the approach is built on.
Scroll down and click through the icons below to learn more about each principle.
Five Key Elements
The five Safe System Elements in the middle ring of the graphic are conduits through which the Safe System approach must be implemented.
Scroll down and click through the icons below to learn more about each Element.
Safety Webinar Series
This series of webinars will be a resource for the NWA Vision Zero Plan during plan development and after the Plan is complete. Webinars will also be a source of training and will include topics such as The Safe System Approach, local and regional commitment to safe streets, linking safety and mobility justice, and answering hard questions about safety and project selection.
The first webinar was held on March 15, 2023. Click the links below to watch the recordings!
The second webinar was held on April 12, 2023.
The third webinar was held on September 5, 2024.
View the Plan
On June 28, 2023 the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission (NWARPC) adopted the Regional Vision Zero Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
Click the buttons below to view the adopted Plan!
View the High Injury Network
You can also view the Regional High Injury Network with the interactive map link below.
