International Comparisons

Canada’s inaugural national road safety plan was successful, as indicated by the lower death and serious injury tolls. However, a review of the top-ranked countries in this field shows that they, too, were making considerable progress. 

It became evident that Canada would need more than a vision to achieve its goal of having the world’s safest roads. An examination of the key elements of road safety programs among the top-ranked OECD countries (Table 1) revealed that most of them had set ambitious quantitative road safety targets.

To achieve these targets, the OECD’s safest nations are continuing to develop innovative initiatives. Great Britain has set up a year-round road safety public awareness campaign called THINK, which focuses on child safety, vulnerable road users, drinking and driving, seat belts, teenagers and speed reductions, among other issues. The most useful aspect of the THINK campaign is that it raises awareness of many road safety issues together under one umbrella to maximize the impact of the overall road safety message.

Sweden’s long-term goal – called Vision Zero – is that no one be killed or seriously injured in road traffic crashes. Sweden’s current action plan focuses on special safety measures for the most dangerous roads and safer traffic movement in built-up areas, emphasizing road user responsibility, safer cycling conditions and compulsory use of studded winter tires. It places greater responsibility on road traffic system designers and includes the development of alternative forms of financing for new roads. 

The Netherlands has embraced a coordinated approach to road safety to achieve its specific objectives. The Dutch plan involves greater sharing of costs and responsibilities among the national, provincial and municipal governments as well as the private sector. National targets have been broken down into regional targets. Specific activities cited for these coordinated efforts include modifying all road user behaviour, improving road and motorway infrastructure, improving driver training, enhancing police enforcement and reinforcing the “safety culture.”

Like Sweden, Norway has embraced the Vision Zero concept. The Norwegian plan targets safer roads through removal of roadside hazards, improved curves, rumble strips on centre lines, improved winter operations (by, for example, enhancing signposting and providing up-to-the-minute information on road conditions) and increased road safety audits. Norway is also targeting measures to regulate driver behaviour, such as reducing speed limits on the most dangerous roads, banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, imposing a BAC limit of 20 mg% and increasing the demerit points for driving offences; enforcement through more inspections of commercial vehicles, increased emphasis on seat belt use, drinking and driving and speeding, and the use of automatic speed controls; improved traffic education through compulsory training for novice drivers, better training for currently licensed drivers, compulsory first aid training and improved motorcyclist training; and a greater emphasis on knowledge building through research and analysis.

Finland has made hand-held cell phone use illegal while driving, is introducing legislation that will require all cyclists to use safety helmets and is extensively promoting the use of reflective clothing by pedestrians after nightfall. 

Australia hopes to achieve its target by continuing to focus on proven measures such as reducing the incidence of drinking and driving, improving compliance with speed limits, and increasing seat belt and child restraint use. More recent measures include matching speed limits to road conditions, promoting driver fatigue management, and encouraging the use of in-vehicle intelligent transportation systems.

Denmark has focused on road engineering initiatives to achieve its targets. It has undertaken a systematic identification and elimination of grey and black spots on its roadways, subjected all new road construction to safety audits, pilot tested road safety audits on some of its roads, introduced public education campaigns and improved signage for road construction zones.

The United States is focusing considerable enforcement efforts on increasing seat belt use and decreasing drinking and driving. Four additional problem areas were identified  as major contributors to fatalities: single vehicles that run off the road, high speeds, problem intersections, and crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists. Numerous road  user and traffic engineering countermeasures have been introduced to help curtail
these problems. 

Road safety measures in Switzerland have focused on increasing seat belt use and helmet wearing, traffic calming (using roundabouts), improving police enforcement and enhancing public education and crash prevention campaigns. Impending legislation will reduce the legal BAC limit to 50 mg%, introduce more stringent penalties for repeat offenders and enable police to administer breath tests without prior cause. Switzerland has also adopted a long-term Vision Zero concept.

Although Germany does not have national road safety targets, it has carried out road safety campaigns in recent years that have enabled it to remain among the safest countries in the world. Major intervention efforts have focused on drinking and driving, young drivers, motorcyclists and rural road crashes. 

Table 1