North Dakota Statewide Traffic Safety Survey, 2023: Traffic Safety Performance Measures for State and Federal Agencies

Vachal, Kimberly; Kubas, Andrew; Andersen, Jaclyn · 2023 · ROSA P / Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

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Summary

This report presents the findings of the 2023 North Dakota Statewide Traffic Safety Survey, conducted by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute for the North Dakota Department of Transportation. The study addresses the need for reliable metrics to monitor driver attitudes, awareness, and self-reported behaviors regarding traffic safety priorities. Motivated by the United States’ higher road traffic death rate compared to other developed nations, the survey aligns with Governor’s Highway Safety Association and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration performance measures. The research focuses on core issues including impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding, while also examining high-risk demographic groups and regional variations. The methodology involved a mail survey distributed to a disproportionate stratified random sample of 11,520 North Dakota drivers, selected from state records. The sample was stratified by region (east/west), geography (urban/rural), and age, with oversampling of drivers aged 18–34 to ensure robust analysis of this high-risk group. Of the 1,441 returned surveys, 1,407 were valid and used for analysis, yielding a 12.2% response rate. Post-stratification weighting was applied to adjust for demographic representation, ensuring results reflected the statewide driver population. The survey instrument included core questions on driving after drinking, seat belt usage, and speeding, alongside additional questions on driver beliefs and enforcement perceptions. Key findings indicate mixed trends in driver behavior. Self-reported seat belt use reached a record high, with 82.6% of drivers reporting they always wear seat belts, an increase from 81.8% in 2022. However, impaired driving behaviors worsened significantly. The proportion of drivers reporting they drove within two hours of consuming one or two alcoholic drinks rose to 42.9% in 2023, up from 30.5% in 2022, marking the highest level in the survey’s 11-year history. Similarly, driving after consuming three or more drinks increased to 6.5% from 4.9%. Drivers perceived a higher likelihood of arrest for impaired driving (70.7%) than for speeding (49.8%) or seat belt violations (33.4%). Notably, drivers who admitted to driving after drinking were less likely to believe they would be ticketed for speeding or not wearing a seat belt, suggesting a correlation between risky behaviors. Statistical analysis revealed no strong substantive correlations between the core survey items. The significance of these findings lies in their utility for setting safety goals and allocating resources. While seat belt adoption continues to improve, the sharp increase in self-reported impaired driving highlights a critical area requiring intensified enforcement and education. The data supports the need for continued monitoring of behavioral trends and suggests that current enforcement perceptions may not be deterring risky behaviors sufficiently. The report provides state and federal agencies with baseline metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of highway safety programs and to target interventions toward high-risk groups, particularly young drivers and those engaging in multiple unsafe behaviors.

Key finding

Self-reported seat belt use in North Dakota reached a record high of 82.6%, but the proportion of drivers reporting they had driven within two hours of consuming alcohol increased significantly compared to prior years.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 1407

Provenance

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Topics

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

• incidence prevalence
• sex gender
• seat belt use
• cultural cross national
• traffic safety culture
• 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).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, crash risk outcomes
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource