North Dakota Statewide Traffic Safety Survey, 2012 : Traffic Safety Performance Measures for State and Federal Agencies
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Summary
This report presents the findings of the 2012 North Dakota Statewide Traffic Safety Survey, conducted to establish performance measures for state and federal agencies. The study was motivated by the need to quantify driver attitudes, awareness, and self-reported behaviors to support the Governor’s Highway Safety Association and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Minimum Performance Measures (MPM). These metrics aim to improve transparency in highway safety planning, particularly regarding high-risk behaviors such as impaired driving, speeding, and low seat belt usage. The researchers employed a mail survey methodology, distributing questionnaires to a disproportionate stratified random sample of 8,207 drivers selected from North Dakota Department of Transportation records. The sampling design oversampled 18-to-34-year-old males and stratified participants by region (east/west) and geography (urban/rural) to ensure robust analysis across demographics. The survey included 10 core questions aligned with federal standards, supplemented by additional items addressing local policy interests. Of the mailed surveys, 1,725 valid responses were received, yielding a 21.0% response rate. Post-stratification weighting was applied to adjust for demographic disparities, ensuring the results accurately reflected the statewide driver population. The results reveal distinct patterns in driver behavior and perception. Self-reported seat belt use was lower than observed metrics, with only 62.8% of drivers reporting they "always" wear seat belts, a decrease from 2011. Regarding impaired driving, 73.1% of drivers who consume alcohol reported driving within two hours of having one or two drinks, while 29.4% reported driving after three or more drinks. Speeding was prevalent, with 7.0% and 7.4% of drivers reporting they "always" or "nearly always" exceed speed limits on 30 mph and 65 mph roads, respectively. Drivers perceived a higher likelihood of being ticketed for speeding (62.3%) than for drunk driving (62.2%) or not wearing a seat belt (45.2%). Exposure to enforcement messages was highest for drunk driving (89.5%) and lowest for speeding (34.2%). Statistical analysis indicated weak correlations between enforcement perceptions and actual behavior, suggesting enforcement influences attitudes more than education. Additionally, western and rural residents reported significantly higher annual mileage than their eastern and urban counterparts. The study concludes that while enforcement perceptions are high, self-reported risky behaviors remain significant, particularly regarding seat belt use and driving after alcohol consumption. The data provides a quantitative baseline for evaluating the effectiveness of safety programs and allocating resources. By identifying gaps between perceived enforcement risk and actual behavior, the findings support targeted interventions for high-risk groups, such as young male drivers, and inform the development of future highway safety plans in North Dakota.
Key finding
73.1% of drinking drivers reported driving within two hours of consuming one or two alcoholic beverages in the past 60 days, while only 62.8% of all drivers reported always wearing seat belts.
Methodology
survey
Sample size: 1725
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
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| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
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| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 20 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | partial | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified_with_issues.
Topics
Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.
- seat belt use
- sex gender
- incidence prevalence
- public messaging
- cultural cross national
- traffic safety culture
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