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For this fact sheet, urban boundaries are determined by the State highway departments and approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the areas outside of those boundaries are described as rural. The State highway departments use the boundaries decided by the Census Bureau. Read the full study here.
The COVID-19 pandemic, mitigation efforts such as stay-at-home orders, and ensuing trends such as the rise in working from home, have had substantial impacts on traffic. In March, NHTSA reported that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) decreased 11% from 2019 to 2020, while police-reported crashes decreased 22%. However, fatalities per 100 million VMT increased 21% from […]
Prior to 2015, there were more traffic fatalities in rural areas than in urban areas in the U.S.; however, between 2010 and 2019, fatalities in urban areas increased by 34%, while those in rural areas decreased by 10%. Consequently, in 2019, there were 19,595 traffic fatalities in urban areas compared to 16,340 fatalities in rural […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As distracted driving continues to plague our roads and kill people every day, state laws that are broadly worded to prohibit drivers from holding a cell phone under any circumstance appear to be effective in reducing rear-end crashes, according to a new research paper published today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). IIHS […]
Occupant protection discussed in this fact sheet includes seat belts, car seats for those under 5, and frontal air bags in passenger vehicles. Passenger vehicles consist of passenger cars and light trucks (pickups, SUVs, and vans) with gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWRs) of 10,000 pounds or less. Vehicle occupants include drivers and passengers. Read the […]
In the context of pedestrian and bicyclist safety, the theory of Jacobsen’s 2003 “ Safety in Numbers” (SIN) posits an inverse relationship between the extent of walking and bicycling and the probability of motorist collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists. A literature review was conducted to summarize the state of research on SIN and identify potential […]
A school-transportation-related crash is a motor vehicle traffic crash that directly or indirectly involves a school transportation vehicle. These vehicles include those of a school bus body type or a non-school-bus functioning as a school bus, transporting children to and from school or school-related activities. For the purposes of this fact sheet, school-age children are […]
Research has explored the benefits of innovative pedestrian and bicycle facilities, but it is unclear how pedestrians and bicyclists learn to properly use them. This report provides information on new pedestrian and bicycle treatments and (1) the behavior and knowledge of pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers traversing through, on, and around the new facilities, and (2) […]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considers a crash to be speeding-related if any driver in the crash was charged with a speeding-related offense or if a police officer indicated that racing, driving too fast for conditions, or exceeding the posted speed limit was a contributing factor in the crash. A speeding-related fatality is any […]
FDNY issues warning to stop using overheated batteries after battling four lithium-ion blazes in 24 hours. Batteries should never be charged unsupervised. Read the full article here.
