Countermeasures That Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure Guide for State Highway Safety Offices, 10th Edition, 2020

Venkatraman, Vindhya; Richard, Christian M.; Magee, Kelly; Johnson, Kristie · 2021 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This document, the 10th edition of *Countermeasures That Work*, serves as a comprehensive reference guide for State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) to select evidence-based strategies for addressing critical traffic safety issues. Sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and authored by researchers from Battelle Memorial Institute and NHTSA, the guide aims to assist state officials in identifying effective countermeasures for ten specific problem areas: alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, seat belts and child restraints, speeding, distracted driving, motorcycle safety, young drivers, older drivers, pedestrian safety, bicycle safety, and drowsy driving. The publication is designed to summarize the use, effectiveness, costs, and implementation timelines of various strategies, providing references to key research summaries and individual studies to support data-driven decision-making. The guide organizes countermeasures into distinct categories for each safety topic, typically including laws, enforcement, prosecution and adjudication, treatment and monitoring, and communications and outreach. For instance, the section on impaired driving details deterrence strategies such as administrative license revocation, sobriety checkpoints, and DWI courts, alongside prevention methods like responsible beverage service and minimum legal drinking age laws. Similarly, sections on seat belts and child restraints distinguish between countermeasures targeting adults (e.g., primary enforcement laws) and those targeting children (e.g., booster seat laws and school-based programs). The document also covers specialized areas such as graduated driver licensing for young drivers, helmet laws for motorcyclists, and conspicuity enhancements for pedestrians and bicyclists. Each countermeasure is evaluated based on available evidence, with specific strategies designated as one- or two-star countermeasures to indicate their level of proven effectiveness. The findings presented in the guide are derived from a synthesis of existing research, summarizing the efficacy of various interventions. It highlights that certain strategies, such as high-visibility enforcement for seat belts and impaired driving, and graduated driver licensing for young drivers, are consistently supported by evidence as effective. The guide provides detailed write-ups for these high-priority countermeasures in the main text, while less established or emerging strategies are summarized in the appendices. By categorizing interventions and linking them to specific research references, the document enables SHSOs to compare the relative merits of different approaches, considering factors like cost and implementation time. The significance of this publication lies in its role as a standardized tool for improving highway safety policy and practice across the United States. By consolidating evidence-based countermeasures into a single, accessible resource, the guide facilitates the adoption of strategies that have demonstrated success in reducing crashes and injuries. It supports SHSOs in allocating resources efficiently by focusing on interventions with proven impact, thereby contributing to broader public health and safety goals. The guide’s structured approach ensures that state officials can make informed decisions grounded in scientific evidence rather than anecdotal or political considerations.

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Topics

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• driver education effectiveness
• regulatory evaluation
• seat belt use
• dui enforcement
• public messaging
• incidence prevalence

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: observational prevalence