Government reports: U.S. could do more to reduce traffic deaths

Two new government reports claim that America could do a better job promoting safety on the country's roads.

The first, released by the National Research Council, shows that recent U.S. declines in traffic fatalities have been outpaced by other developed nations. The United States could do a better job of road design and traffic management; regulation of vehicle safety; and regulation of driver behaviors regarding speed, alcohol and drug use, and seat belt and motorcycle helmet use, according to the report.

The NRC report lists several steps that could bring results, and how many lives they could save in the U.S. annually:

• Nationwide, sustained, and frequent sobriety checkpoints to detect drunk drivers — 1,500- 3,000 lives
• Systematic (not automated) speed enforcement — 1,000 to 2,000 lives
• Universal motorcycle helmet laws — 450 lives
• Increasing seat belt use from 85 percent to 90 percent — 1,200 lives

The second report is an update to the National Transportation Safety Board's "most wanted" list of safety improvements. The NTSB added motorcycle safety to its most wanted list, replacing recreational boating. The NTSB's most wanted list is a directive to states in where they can best focus safety resources.

The NTSB recommended universal helmet laws in all states as a way to bring down motorcycle fatalities. This prompted a quick response by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation saying it is "troubled" by the NTSB's recommendations.

Federal data shows that while overall traffic fatalities have dropped steadily since 2005, while motorcycle fatalities rose over the same time period. A dip in motorcycle fatalities occurred in 2009, when the economy kept riders off the street. Similar economic concerns may explain the reduction in recreational boating deaths.

Among the other items on NTSB's "wish list" are eliminating distractions for young drivers, improving child occupant protections, enacting primary-enforcement safety-belt laws, and cracking down on habitual drunk drivers.

Using our own data, as well as what's available from the government and the insurance industry, we published our own list of traffic safety priorities last week.

While we applaud the progress the U.S. has made in reducing traffic deaths thus far, there is still clearly work to be done.

—Eric Evarts