North Dakota Statewide Traffic Safety Survey, 2011 : Traffic Safety Performance Measures for State and Federal Agencies

Vachal, Kimberly; Benson, Laurel; Kubas, Andrew · 2011 · ROSA P / North Dakota. Dept. of Transportation

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Summary

This report presents the findings of the 2011 North Dakota Statewide Traffic Safety Survey, conducted by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute for the North Dakota Department of Transportation. The study was motivated by the need to establish reliable behavioral performance measures for traffic safety, aligning with Minimum Performance Measures (MPM) developed by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While outcome measures like fatality rates are tracked, this survey aimed to quantify driver attitudes, awareness, and self-reported behaviors regarding impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding to better inform state safety plans and resource allocation. The methodology involved a mail survey sent to a disproportionate stratified random sample of 7,008 drivers selected from state registration records. The sample was stratified by region (east/west) and geography (rural/urban), with oversampling of male drivers aged 18–34 to ensure sufficient data for this high-risk target group. Of the surveys mailed, 1,433 valid responses were received, yielding a 20.4% response rate. Post-stratification weighting was applied to adjust for sampling disparities and ensure the results represented the statewide driving population. The survey instrument included ten core questions focused on the three priority behaviors, supplemented by additional questions on enforcement exposure and specific safety campaigns. Key findings reveal distinct patterns in driver perception and behavior. Drivers perceived a higher likelihood of being ticketed for speeding (59.3%) than for impaired driving (58.0%) or seat belt violations (38.6%). Self-reported seat belt usage was lower than observed rates, with 67.9% reporting they "always" wear belts, compared to an observed rate of 81.5%. Regarding impaired driving, 40.9% of drivers who consume alcohol reported driving within two hours of drinking in the past 60 days. Speeding was prevalent, with only 15.2% of drivers reporting they "never" exceed the speed limit on 30 mph roads. Awareness of enforcement varied significantly; 87.0% of drivers reported recent exposure to drunk driving enforcement messages, compared to only 35.8% for speeding enforcement. Correlation analysis indicated weak relationships between enforcement perceptions and actual behavior, though speeding tendencies on local and highway roads were moderately correlated. The study concludes that enforcement visibility strongly influences driver perceptions, particularly for impaired driving and seat belt use. The survey evaluated the impact of the "Wear It for Them" public service announcement, finding that 30.4% of viewers increased their seat belt usage, with rural residents showing the highest behavioral change. Conversely, high-risk young males were less likely to believe that police presence improves safety. The report highlights that while education campaigns have limited reach, high-visibility enforcement strategies like sobriety checkpoints are widely recognized. These findings provide state and federal agencies with critical data to tailor interventions, emphasizing the need for targeted enforcement and education strategies to address specific demographic and geographic disparities in traffic safety behaviors.

Key finding

Self-reported seat belt usage was 67.9 percent, which is substantially lower than the 81.5 percent observed rate, and exposure to speeding enforcement messages dropped from 57 percent in 2010 to 35.8 percent in 2011.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 1433

Provenance

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Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• seat belt use
• sex gender
• incidence prevalence
• cultural cross national
• public messaging
• exposure measurement

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
• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, crash risk outcomes