Highway Safety

Highway safety is a complicated science that rises to an art form as ordinary drivers perceive what engineers communicate to them in the road design, what government policies and education campaigns communicate in laws and in shaping public discourse, and what the culture of the driving public adds to their perception. This area of scientific and communication research ultimately has a profound impact on the well-being of citizens and the communities where they live and travel.

Highway safety is a worldwide concern because an estimated 1.2 million people lose their lives in road crashes each year, and as many as 50 million are injured. It is expected that close to 2 million lives will be lost each year on roadways by the year 2025. This human cost of transportation progress impacts both developing and advanced nations. The widespread loss of human lives and the impacts of life-changing serious injuries are now considered a public health epidemic, sometimes known as “the disease of mobility.” Over 40,000 roadway fatalities occur each year in the United States, and these motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for persons age 34 and younger. This entry examines the factors involved in motor vehicle crashes and the solutions for reducing losses that both improve the roadway systems and attempt to change the culture of the motoring public.