Toward more comprehensive evaluation of traffic risks and safety strategies

Despite large investments in traffic safety programs and technologies, motor vehicle accidents continue to impose high social costs. New strategies will be needed to achieve ambitious traffic safety targets such as Vision Zero. Recent research improves our understanding of factors that affect traffic risks and ways to increase traffic safety. Applying this knowledge requires a paradigm shift, a change in the way we define problems and evaluate potential solutions. The old paradigm assumed that driving is generally safe and favored targeted safety programs that reduce special risks such as youth, senior, impaired and distracted driving. The new paradigm recognizes that all vehicle travel imposes risks, and so, in addition to targeted programs also supports vehicle travel reduction strategies such as more multimodal planning, efficient transport pricing, Smart Growth development policies and TDM programs. These strategies tend to provide large co-benefits, in addition to safety. This article examines our emerging understanding of traffic risks and new ways to increase safety.