A Comparative Analysis of State Traffic Safety Countermeasures and Implications for Progress “Toward Zero Deaths” in the United States [Traffic Safety Facts] – Research Note

Sung, Jonathan; Mizenko, Krista; Coleman, Heidi · 2017 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This research note addresses the disparity in traffic safety outcomes across U.S. states and evaluates the potential for adopting proven countermeasures to advance the national "Toward Zero Deaths" (TZD) strategy. Motivated by a 7.2% increase in motor vehicle fatalities in 2015—the largest percentage rise in nearly 50 years—the study investigates whether the implementation of evidence-based safety laws correlates with reduced fatality rates. The TZD framework, inspired by Sweden’s "Vision Zero," shifts responsibility from individual drivers to systemic design and policy, emphasizing engineering, technology, and behavior change. The authors analyzed the adoption of 11 specific traffic safety countermeasures across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These measures were selected from NHTSA’s *Countermeasures That Work* guide based on high effectiveness ratings (4 or 5 stars) and the ability to quantify state-level implementation. The selected countermeasures included administrative license revocation, sobriety checkpoints, alcohol interlocks, primary seat belt laws, child restraint laws, automated speed enforcement, primary texting enforcement, universal motorcycle helmet laws, graduated driver licensing, youth bicycle helmet laws, and Complete Streets policies. Implementation status was determined using strict legislative criteria as of December 2015, verified through sources such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and state statutes. This data was cross-tabulated with 2015 traffic fatality rates per 100,000 population and per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The results indicated that no state had implemented all 11 countermeasures, with the mean implementation count being 6.14. Administrative license revocation was the most prevalent measure (88% of states), while primary seat belt laws were the least adopted (14%), largely due to the study’s strict criteria requiring coverage for all occupants. Statistical analysis revealed a moderate negative correlation between the number of implemented countermeasures and fatality rates. Specifically, a higher number of countermeasures was associated with lower fatality rates per 100,000 population (Pearson’s α = -0.40, p = 0.004) and per 100 million VMT (α = -0.34, p = 0.015). The number of countermeasures accounted for 15.9% of the variance in population fatality rates and 11.4% of the variance in VMT fatality rates. The study concludes that states can likely save more lives by increasing the adoption of proven countermeasures. While the correlation is significant, the authors note limitations, including the inability to measure the quality or intensity of enforcement, which may explain outliers like Louisiana and West Virginia, which had high implementation counts but high fatality rates. The findings suggest that policymakers should pursue comprehensive legislation to maximize the adoption of effective countermeasures. Additionally, states with low fatality rates despite fewer countermeasures may serve as models for efficient implementation strategies. Future research should incorporate injury data and more granular implementation metrics to further refine these findings.

Key finding

States with a higher number of implemented proven traffic safety countermeasures had significantly lower traffic fatality rates per 100,000 population and per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 51

Provenance

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Topics

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• comparative international
• regulatory evaluation
• incidence prevalence
• fatality injury trends
• automated enforcement cameras
• dui enforcement

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation, policy recommendations
• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes