Road User Behavior

There are typically many contributing factors in motor vehicle crashes. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) play a critical role post-crash to reduce fatalities and serious injuries. Recent studies show that an effective emergency trauma care system can improve survival from serious injuries by as much as 25 percent and county-level coordinated systems of trauma care can reduce crash fatalities rates as much as 50 percent.

The Haddon Matrix applies basic principles of public health to motor vehicle-related injuries. The matrix looks at the factors in the pre-crash, crash, and post-...

Driving under the influence of drugs is a significant threat to public safety. Various substances can impair cognition, attention, coordination, and other brain functions critical to driving safety. Unlike alcohol, the mechanism for absorption, distribution, and elimination of drugs from the body, as well as cognitive and behavioral effects differ greatly. The use of cannabis, prescription drugs, and other drugs are increasingly prominent on our roadways, where 22.2 percent of the nation’s 37,133 fatalities in 2017 were related to drug-involved driving.

A speeding-related collision is defined as one where a driver is speeding, racing, driving too fast for the conditions, or driving in excess of the posted speed limit. In the United States, over one in four (26.2 percent) fatalities involved speeding, a steady decline from a decade ago. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects, reduces the amount of time a driver has to react to a dangerous situation, and extends safe stopping distances. Analyses presented in the police traffic services program area refer to speeding-related fatal and serious injuries.