Our streets connect us to work, school, family, and one another. The safety of everyone who uses our streets – whether walking, biking, driving, or riding transit – is essential to cultivating a safe, healthy, and vibrant city. That’s why the City of Lincoln has created the Safe Streets Lincoln local initiative to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injury crashes. The City of Lincoln has been committed to continual improvement, knowing that even one life lost is too many. With this commitment, we have developed the Safe Streets Lincoln Vision Zero Action Plan.
The City led an extensive planning and engagement process with public officials at the local, county, and state levels, advisory groups, cultural organizations, advocacy organizations, neighborhood associations, and community members from 2024 to 2026. That collaborative effort resulted in the Safe Streets Lincoln Vision Zero Action Plan, which outlines the strategies and actions that will move us toward our goal of zero traffic-related deaths and serious injuries.
Learn More: Vision Zero Action Plan (22.6 M PDF)
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- Vision Zero – A National Movement
- Vision Zero is a nationwide approach to transportation safety that helps communities develop strategic insights, data collection, and implementation plans to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injury crashes. On our path to zero lives lost or injured, the City aims to reach an important milestone of eliminating fatal crashes and reducing severe injuries by 60% by 2045.
Four Primary Focus Areas
Community engagement efforts supported the identification of four primary focus areas in the plan, identified 19 projects, and 24 recommended strategies. Focus areas include:
Coming Soon
A dashboard is being developed to provide data and statistics to support the Lincoln's Vision Zero efforts.
Our Safe Streets Lincoln initiative builds on important traffic safety work already underway in Lincoln, including the implementation of Safe Routes to School, roundabouts, and flashing crosswalk signals. Data shows Lincoln is safer than many cities across the country, with a crash rate that is a fraction of its peer cities. From 2014 to 2023, Lincoln had 4.7 crash fatalities per 100,000 people. During this period, there was a 21% increase in fatal and serious injury crashes across the U.S., a 19% decrease in Nebraska, and a 50% decrease in Lincoln.
Lincoln Ranks Among the Safest Cities for Crash Fatalities
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Source(s): NHTSA, 2014-2023; U.S. Census Bureau, 2014-2023
Cities are ranked from lowest to highest: Boulder, Colorado 2.4; Carmel, Indiana 2.9; Madison, Wisconsin 4.1; Lincoln, Nebraska 4.7; Boise, Idaho 4.8; Fort Collins, Colorado 5.5; Spokane, Washington 6.4; Omaha, Nebraska 7.1; Des Moines, Iowa 7.8; Fort Wayne, Indiana 9.4; Wichita, Kansas 10.4; and Tulsa, Oklahoma 14.0.
- Slow Down
- Follow posted speed limits to keep everyone safe.
- Stay Alert
- Avoid distractions and focus on the road.
- Spread Awareness
- Remind others to watch for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Get Involved
- Join the community conversation to help create safer streets.
Community Engagement
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Community participation is critical to the success of Safe Streets Lincoln and the development of the Vision Zero Action Plan. The project team engaged the community through various opportunities, including:
Safe Streets Lincoln Internal City Task Force
An internal task force comprised of representatives from various City departments provides technical oversight and facilitates coordination between departments. This group meets regularly throughout the project and ensures alignment with City-wide safety initiatives.
City Task Force Members
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City Task Force Meeting 2: June 25, 2025