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Behavioral outreach is a compelling option for improving traffic safety, because it presents a relatively low-cost and broad-based way for highway safety offices to discourage unsafe behaviors and encourage safe behaviors without requiring the same logistics and resources as deploying enforcement or changing infrastructure. Measures of Effective Traffic Safety Public Awareness
Thank you to those who attended, presented, and assisted in the planning of the 2024 Southeast CMV Safety Research Summit. The Summit brought together government, industry, universities, law enforcement, and non-profits to form meaningful partnerships. Visit the recap page here.
In 2022 there were 6,218 motorcyclists killed, 15 percent of all traffic fatalities. The number of motorcyclist fatalities in 2022 increased by 1 percent from 2021, from 6,143 to 6,218. Read the full fact guide here.
After a brief reduction during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic fatalities in the United States surged to the highest levels in many years. Initially experts hypothesized that the increase was due in large part to reduced traffic volumes facilitating speeding. However, traffic fatality rates remained elevated throughout 2021 and 2022, despite traffic […]
The percentage of passenger vehicle drivers talking on handheld phones decreased from 2.5 percent in 2021 to 2.1 percent in 2022 (Figure 1 and Table 1). The percentage of drivers speaking with visible headsets while driving remained unchanged from the previous year’s level of 0.4 percent (Figure 1 and Table 2). Drivers’ visible manipulation of […]
This report examines challenges States face improving traffic safety information systems. The foundation for the report is the State Traffic Records Assessment Program data from 2018 to 2022 and technical assistance requests States have made to NHTSA since 2015. Of the six traffic records systems (crash, driver, vehicle, roadway, citation and adjudication, and injury surveillance), […]
When approaching a lane reduction, drivers typically attempt to merge into the appropriate lane as soon as possible, even in congested conditions. Aggressive driving can occur when drivers merge at the last minute because they are potentially perceived to be “cutting the line.” This perception could stem from traditional traffic control device messaging suggesting that […]
As defined for this fact sheet, pedalcyclists are bicyclists and other cyclists including riders of two-wheel, nonmotorized vehicles, tricycles, and unicycles powered solely by pedals. This fact sheet does not include pedalcyclist crashes that do not involve motor vehicles. This fact sheet contains information on fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes based on data from the […]
This study examined the effects of posted speed limit changes on traffic safety by conducting before-and-after assessments using crash and speed data from multiple sites. Despite numerous studies reporting the negative impacts of increased speeds on traffic safety, many states have raised their posted speed limits. In response, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAA […]
The number and rate of traffic fatalities in the U.S. surged starting in 2020, even as the rate of vehicle travel plunged while the nation grappled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend of increasing traffic fatalities continued in 2021, as vehicle travel returned to near pre-pandemic levels. From 2021 to 2022 the […]