The Impact of Infrastructure and Mobility Patterns on the Variation of Traffic Fatality Rates in Industrialized Countries

Over the last 40 years, the United States went from being one of the safest counties in the world for traffic safety to one of the least safe among industrialized countries. Even after the notable decrease in fatalities in 2008 and 2009 (partly attributed to a decrease in vehicle miles traveled), the USA still has a per capita fatality rate three times that of the safest countries. The rate of decrease in fatalities in countries like the Netherlands shows no sign of slowing down and continues to outpace that in the USA. Many observers in the USA, including the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), have noted these results and are seeking to learn how the experiences in these countries can be applied to improving traffic safety in the USA. There is much speculation but no clear sense as to what are the driving factors that contribute to the observed differences. This project is designed to address a part of this issue by focusing on the role that difference in transportation infrastructure and mobility patterns might play in affecting traffic safety. The purpose is to help policy makers understand what strategies might be the most useful for improving traffic safety in the USA. This project will build on the line of inquiry reflected in a recent FHWA white paper, and the study will be modeled to some extent on the highly successful project that the researcher conducted of traffic safety in California cities. The goal of the project will be to assess the extent to which differences in infrastructure, land use and mobility patterns affect the observed differences between the states and between the countries themselves.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $82412.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT06-G-0025

  CTLS 11-03

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Center for Transportation and Livable Systems

  University of Connecticut, Storrs
  Storrs, CT  United States  06269-2037
• Project Managers:

  Lownes, Nicholas

• Performing Organizations:

  Center for Transportation and Livable Systems

  University of Connecticut, Storrs
  Storrs, CT  United States  06269-2037
• Principal Investigators:

  Atkinson-Palombo, Carol

  Garrick, Norman

• Start Date: 20110822
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: RiP Project 29875

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Fatalities; Infrastructure; Land use; Mobility; Traffic safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01481462
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Transportation and Urban Planning
• Contract Numbers: DTRT06-G-0025, CTLS 11-03
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: May 17 2013 1:00AM