NHTSA Releases Latest Edition of Countermeasures That Work

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today released the 11th edition of Countermeasures That Work to help state and local governments implement effective programs to save lives, prevent crashes, and make our roads safer for everyone. 

This report supports the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which includes a special focus on reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The NRSS aims to save lives by focusing on safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and post-crash care.

“The new edition of Countermeasures That Work will help everyone implement meaningful safety programs to save lives, bringing us that much closer to the day when we will see zero fatalities on our nation’s roads,” said Ann Carlson, NHTSA’s Acting Administrator. 

Countermeasures That Work incorporates a proactive, equitable, safe system approach to eliminating fatalities on our nation’s roads, and addresses the safety of all road users, including those who walk, roll, bike, ride, and drive. It analyzes how each safety issue impacts our society and provides proven strategies for communities to consider implementing. 

The guide describes major strategies and countermeasures, summarizes their use, effectiveness, costs, and implementation time, and provides references to the most important research summaries and individual studies available on strategies and countermeasures to improve road and driver safety. Countermeasures That Work supports decision making to effectively address roadway safety issues in communities across the United States. 

New countermeasures examined in this edition include:

• Lower blood alcohol limits expanded to all drivers, not just those under age 21, added to the alcohol-impaired driving chapter 
• Intelligent speed assistance added to the speed and speeding management chapter 
• Graduated driver licenses for motorcyclists added to the motorcycle safety chapter 
• School start times added to the drowsy driving chapter 

The latest edition is also available in an interactive digital format, allowing state and local governments to fully customize their traffic safety plans based on their specific data and goals. Effectiveness, cost, use, and implementation time are included for each countermeasure, which are awarded ratings from one to five stars. 

The 11 program areas covered in this edition of Countermeasures That Work are alcohol-impaired driving, bicycle safety, distracted driving, drowsy driving, drug-impaired driving, motorcycle safety, older drivers, pedestrian safety, seat belts and child restraints, speeding and speed management, and young drivers. This edition splits the issue of impaired driving into two categories, alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, in recognition of the growing need for drug-impaired specific countermeasures.