Road Safety Fundamentals
Concepts, Strategies, and Practices that Reduce Fatalities and Injuries on the Road

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration

1. Laws

Countermeasure	Effectiveness	Cost	Use	Time
1.1 Speed limits	★★★★★^†	$	High	Short
1.2 Aggressive driving laws	★☆☆☆☆	$	Low	Short

† When enforced and obeyed

2. Enforcement

Countermeasure	Effectiveness	Cost	Use	Time
2.1 Automated enforcement	★★★★★	$$$^†	Medium	Medium
2.2 High-visibility enforcement	★★☆☆☆	$$$	Low^††	Medium
2.3 Other enforcement methods	★★☆☆☆	Varies	Unknown	Varies

† Can be covered by income from citations

†† For aggressive driving, but use of short-term, high-visibility enforcement campaigns for speeding is more widespread

3. Penalties and Adjudication

Countermeasure	Effectiveness	Cost	Use	Time
3.1 Penalty types and levels	★★☆☆☆	Varies	High	Low
3.2 Diversion and plea agreements	★☆☆☆☆	Varies	Unknown	Varies

4. Communications and Outreach

Countermeasure	Effectiveness	Cost	Use	Time
4.1 Public Information supporting enforcement	★★★☆☆	Varies	Medium	Medium

Effectiveness:

★★★★★	Demonstrated to be effective by several high-quality evaluations with consistent results
★★★★☆	Demonstrated to be effective in certain situations
★★★☆☆	Likely to be effective based on balance of evidence from high-quality evaluations or other sources
★★☆☆☆	Effectiveness still undetermined; different methods of implementing this countermeasure produce different results
★☆☆☆☆	Limited or no high-quality evaluation evidence