1 Introduction
2 Approach
3 Background statistics
Background statistics | U.S. | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|---|
Population, thousand (2010)a | 310,384 | 9.380 | 62,036 | 16,613 |
Area, thousand km2 (2010)a | 9,629.1 | 450.3 | 255.4 | 37.4 |
Population density, inhabitants per km2 (2010)a | 32.2 | 20.8 | 255.4 | 444.7 |
Population age composition (2010)b | ||||
≤14 years 15–64 years ≥ 65 years | 20 % 67 % 13 % | 17 % 65 % 18 % | 17 % 66 % 17 % | 18 % 67 % 15 % |
Gross domestic product per capita (PPP), US$ (2010)c | 46,805 | 39,479 | 35,692 | 42,230 |
4 Main fatality rates and current road-safety targets
4.1 Road fatalities and main fatality rates
Measure | Year | U.S. | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands | SUN total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalities | 2006 | 42,708 | 445 | 3,298 | 730 | 4,473 |
2007 | 41,259 | 471 | 3,059 | 709 | 4,239 | |
2008 | 37,423 | 397 | 2,645 | 677 | 3,719 | |
2009 | 33,883 | 358 | 2,337 | 644 | 3,339 | |
2010 | 32,885 | 266 | 1,905 | 537 | 2,708 | |
Average | 37,632 | 387 | 2,649 | 659 | 3,696 | |
Population (103) | 2006–2010a | 303,965 | 9,188 | 61,408 | 16,436 | 87,032 |
Vehicles (103) | 2006–2010a | 256,944 | 5,351 | 34,850 | 9,045 | 49,246 |
Vehicle distance driven (106 km) | 2009 | 4,758,450 | 81,444 | 516,007 | 126,966 | 724,417 |
Vehicle distance driven per person | 2009 | 15,511 | 8,799 | 8,345 | 7,701 | 8,272 |
Fatality rate | U.S. | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands | SUN average |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Per million people | 123.8 | 42.2 | 43.1 | 40.1 | 42.5 |
Per million motor vehicles | 146.5 | 72.4 | 76.0 | 72.9 | 75.0 |
Per billion km drivena | 7.1 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 4.6 |
4.2 Road-safety targets
5 Five selected road-safety issues
5.1 Alcohol-impaired driving
U.S. | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|
0.8 (0.2 for drivers <21 years; 0.4 for professional drivers) | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 (0.0 for drivers <20 years and repeat offenders since 2011 [earlier 0.3]) |
5.2 Exceeding speed limits
Road type | U.S. | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|---|
Motorways (limited-access highways) | 104–120 (88–113)a | 90–110 (70–90) | 113 | 120 (100) |
Main highways | 88–113 | 90 (70–110) | 97 | 100 |
Rural roads | 88–113 | 70 (90) | 97 | 80 (60) |
Urban arterial roads | 48–88 | 50–70 | 48 (64) | 50–70 |
Urban local and collector streets | 40–56 | 30–50 | 48 (32) | 50 (30) |
Road type | U.S.a | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|---|
Motorways | 41–66 | 68 | 20–57 | 40–45 |
Main highways | 52–66 | 59 | 10 | 20 |
Rural roads | 47 | 59 | 10 | 45 |
Urban arterial roads | 73 | N/A | 8 | 50–73 |
Urban local and collector streets | 74 | N/A | 22 | 45 |
5.3 Use of seat belts
Condition | U.S. | Sweden | U.K. | Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|---|
Front, driver | 85 % | 97 % | 96 % | 97 % |
Front, passenger | 96 % | |||
Rear, adults | 74 % | 81 % | 90 % | 82 % |
Rear, children | 95 % |
5.4 Nighttime driving
5.5 Young drivers
6 Discussion
6.1 Structural and cultural factors
6.2 Procedural factors
6.2.1 Alcohol-impaired driving
6.2.2 Speed
6.2.3 Use of seat belts
6.2.4 Road-safety target setting
6.3 Limitations of the study
7 Recommendations
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Lower states’ BAC limits and encourage the use of alcohol ignition interlocks. Random breath testing would be highly beneficial too, but its introduction would require a court action that would exempt it from the constitutional prohibition against random search without probable cause.
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Reexamine the current speed limit policies (especially in urban areas) and improve speed enforcement by a wide-scale implementation of speed cameras and/or intelligent speed adaptation.
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Implement in each state primary seat-belt-wearing laws that would cover both front and rear occupants. In addition, reward OEMs for installation of advanced seat-belt reminders.
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Reconsider road-safety target setting so that the goal is given in terms of the number of reduced fatalities, with supplementary goals in terms of serious injuries and other safety indicators.
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Consider new strategies to reduce distances driven (e.g., urban planning, encouragement of people to use more public transportation, telecommuting, etc.).