Unless you’re surrounded by two tons of SUV steel, America’s roads can be a scary place. You’ve seen it crossing a busy street—drivers looking up suddenly as they roll through a stop sign. Vehicles cutting off pedestrians while rushing to make a turn. And far too many people are looking at their phones instead of the road.
More than 25 years ago, Swedish safety engineers created a plan called Vision Zero to eliminate pedestrian and bicycle fatalities. But over the past decade, we’ve seen a 30% increase in traffic fatalities in the U.S. instead. It’s time to look at how we can change driver behavior.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced several recent initiatives to improve car design and mandate automatic emergency braking systems, and these are steps in the right direction. But these technology measures fall short of addressing the core issues plaguing America’s roads. If we really want to make our streets safer, we need to place a much greater focus on how people behave behind the wheel.
The limitations of vehicle design changes
Unfortunately, I don’t see some of the proposed new regulations, including the use of crash test dummies to assess pedestrian impact, making a big enough difference in reducing the more than 40,000 traffic deaths a year in the U.S. NHTSA estimates automatic emergency braking will save 360 lives a year. Improving crash testing will save 67 lives per year. Every life is important, but hundreds of lives saved doesn’t stack up to tens of thousands of lives lost.
U.S. regulators are also assessing the tall hoods of SUVs and pickup trucks, based on findings that these vehicles are 45% more likely to cause fatalities than shorter cars. But countries like Canada and Australia have just as many SUVs and large vehicles, and their fatality rates are two to three times lower than the U.S. The Financial Times has noted that car sizes in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have a similar growth trajectory as the U.S., but those countries have seen an overall decline in fatalities.
The real problem: Driver behavior
The heart of the issue lies not under the hood, but behind the steering wheel. A recent New York Times analysis revealed a disturbing trend: a spike in pedestrian fatalities at dusk, largely attributed to speeding drivers distracted by their cellphones. Cambridge Mobile Telematics found that Americans interact with their phones three times more while driving as drivers in Britain, and distracted driving typically peaks in the evening hours.
The problem is multifaceted, encompassing:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Inadequate resources to enforce traffic laws
Each of these factors contributes to the problem, but we need to address all of them if we want to see a significant improvement.
The role of technology and data
While vehicle design changes alone won’t solve the problem, technology has a crucial role to play in improving road safety. Initial research suggests that newer vehicles equipped with safety reminders, automatic braking, and other advanced features are less likely to cause accidents. These reinforcements, along with measures like speed enforcement cameras, have proven effective in influencing driver behavior.
However, to truly leverage technology for road safety, we need a more comprehensive, data-driven approach. This is where we can learn valuable lessons from the airline industry. Fourty thousand people a year is roughly the capacity of 200 Boeing 737 Max planes. Imagine the uproar if we had 200 planes crashing a year? So, let’s look at how the airline industry has improved safety.
Learn from the skies: The aviation safety model
The airline industry has achieved remarkable safety improvements by:
- Objectively analyzing data from every incident and near-miss
- Fostering a culture of transparent reporting without fear of punishment
- Using data to identify high-risk areas and behaviors
- Implementing systemic changes based on these insights
Applying this model to road safety could revolutionize our approach. We need 24/7 monitoring of roads or vehicles that can reduce speeds at times and locations when police aren’t around. Only with real-time, always-on monitoring can we effectively reduce speeds when and where it matters most.
Targeted solutions for specific situations
We already have models for situational speed enforcement, such as school zones, work zones, and stopped school buses. These programs have shown promising results in changing driver behavior. Verra Mobility’s experience with school bus stop arm safety cameras has found that 95% of drivers ticketed for passing a school bus never receive a second infraction. Automated enforcement changes behavior. We need to expand on these successes and develop targeted solutions for other high-risk situations.
For instance, if we know that pedestrian fatalities spike at night, we could implement:
- Reduced speed limits during nighttime hours
- Dynamic speed limits adjusted on real-time conditions
- Increased use of speed cameras during high-risk hours
The path forward
Changing driving behaviors is a monumental task, but the potential to save thousands of lives makes it worth it. By placing a greater emphasis on improving driver behavior, and adopting a data-driven, systemic approach to safety, we can create safer streets for everyone—drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike.
The technology exists. Successful models are out there. Now, we need the collective will to implement these changes and transform our driving culture. Only then can we hope to see the dramatic reduction in fatalities on our roads that we’ve achieved in the skies.
As we continue to innovate in areas like autonomous vehicles and connected car technology, we need to ensure safety is at the forefront of these advancements. The problem isn’t behind the hood—it’s behind the steering wheel. By focusing on driver behavior and leveraging data and technology to influence it, we can make significant strides in improving road safety for everyone.
David Roberts is CEO of Verra Mobility.
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