In 2024, 43 people have been killed on Omaha roads, 12 more than the previous year.
In 2023, the city committed to a plan to eliminate deaths on Omaha roads. In the year since, central Omaha neighborhood reporter Molly Hudson talked with neighbors and city leaders about the goal and its viability.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Voices from across our neighborhoods…
“Speeding and flying down, racing and all that stuff,” said Steve Wesley in 2023, who lives along Northwest Radial Highway.
Sharing in the same concern — safety on our roads.
“My son is in second grade is he ever going to be able to walk to school alone?” said Amelia Rosser, owner of Sheelytown Market.
Right now — we have Vision Zero, the city’s plan to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on Omaha roads by 2045.
“This is a long-term plan, there is always going to be ups and downs,” Jeff Sobczyk, Vision Zero coordinator for the City of Omaha.
While zero is the hope — for some it seems out of reach.
“If we can’t look at 2025 and maintain some vision there, I don’t see how the next 20 years is going to make a difference,” said Pat Venditte, owner of Cornhusker Driving School.