Speed and road accident mortality : the experience of the United States in the years 1973 - 1995

In France, traffic accident mortality peaked at 18,000 deaths in 1972 before falling back quite steadily to just 5,500 deaths in 2005 as successive road safety measures were introduced. Among the various factors behind this fall, the introduction of speed limits and mandatory seat belts (1972) followed by a stricter enforcement policy from 2003 played a decisive role. The recent decrease in average speed has also reduced the number of road deaths. Traffic accident mortality remains very high among young people however (one-fifth of all road deaths), men in particular. For this age group, the MARC survey of 18-24 year-olds reveals the importance of peer influence on risk behaviour (speeding, drink-driving, non-use of a seat belt, etc). The survey also shows the propensity of young people to play down such behaviour: though the motives vary, the “intention to break the highway code” is equally common among men and women, and among novice and more experienced drivers.REFERENCES [1] Simon Cohen, Hubert Duval, Sylvain Lassarre andJean-Pierre Orfeuil 1998, Limitations de vitesse, les déci-sions publiques et leurs effets, éditions Hermès[2] Sylvain Lassarre 2005, Presentation of the initial find-ings of the MARC survey, in Actes du Colloque « Parents, ensei-gnants, médias : quel rôle face à l’hécatombe des jeunes sur laroute ? », Prévention Routière et Fédération Française desSociétés d’Assurances, Paris[3] Steve Bernardin 2006, « Compter autrement. Mouve-ments sociaux et réforme des pratiques statistiques dans lesannées 1960 aux États-Unis », Journées d’Histoire de la Sta-tistique, CREST-INSEE[4] National Academy of Sciences 1984, 55 : A decade of expe-rience, Transportation research Board, Washington, DC :National Academy of Sciences[5] Sam Peltzman 1975, The Effect of Automobile SafetyRegulation, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 83, pp. 677-725[6] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1998,The Effect of Increased Speed Limits in the Post-NMSL Era :Report to Congress, Washington, DC : US Department ofTransportation[7] Scott Falb 2006, Iowa Rural Interstate Fatalities and FatalCrashes From 1970-2005 and An Iowa Study of Speed LimitIncreases and the Effect on Traffic Fatalities and Fatal Crashes inIowa and Surrounding Midwestern States, Des Moines, IA : IowaDepartment of Transportation, 1-2More could be done to prevent road deaths in France than 110 km/h on a road with a speed limit of 90 km/h”.The proportion who gave a positive answer is the sameamong men and women, and among novices and moreexperienced drivers. But the motives are different. Menare more strongly influenced by their male peers, whilewomen follow the example of their partner or friends.On the other hand, young people with a non-negativeself-image (who see themselves as neither over-confident nor foolhardy) are less likely to answer yes,women especially.Novices exceed the speed limits mainly becausethey know and admire another young driver who doesso, and because they enjoy the sensation of speed. Af-ter a year’s experience, it is the driver’s impression thathe/she is in full control that best predicts the intentionto break the highway code. After three years, previousspeeding convictions are the strongest factor in reduc-ing such intentions. Safety campaigns and trainingprogrammes for young people should be designedwith these factors in mind.