12 months fatality free in Helsinki – how did they do it?

This event is free for ACRS members and $20 for non-members. Learn more about ACRS Membership here.

In the capital city of Finland, Helsinki, during the 12 months to July 2025 there was not a single road fatality despite having a population of almost 700,000. This presentation discusses the city’s transport system, focusing on short-term and long-term measures related to the traffic environment that have improved traffic safety. Key measures include, for example, lowering the speed limit, developing transport infrastructure, and building safer pedestrian crossings. Come and hear from their traffic engineer, Roni Utriainen, to understand how these measures worked and what we can learn from their experiences.

Roni Utriainen works as a traffic engineer in the traffic and street planning service of the city of Helsinki with the main task of promoting traffic safety. His duties include monitoring and analysing the traffic safety situation, preparing traffic safety related design principles, and working with transport planners to improve traffic safety. Utriainen has a PhD from the doctoral programme of built environment from Tampere University, Finland. The doctoral dissertation was about traffic safety and new vehicle technology.

Timezones:

• 5pm-6pm AEDT

• 8am-9am EET