WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- America is falling behind other countries in reducing traffic fatalities and injuries, and should adopt those nations' safety practices, a report said.
A report by the National Research Council reviewed traffic safety practices and strategies in high-income countries around the world and compared them with those in the United States, a release from the National Academy of Sciences said.
From 1995 to 2009, fatalities dropped 52 percent in France, 38 percent in the United Kingdom and 25 percent in Australia. Similar reductions were reported for all high-income countries for which long-term fatality and traffic data are available, but they dropped only 19 percent in the United States, the report found.
"There is a notable gap between traffic safety progress in the U.S. and other nations that deserves our attention," said Clinton V. Oster Jr., a professor at Indiana University who led the report committee.
"The U.S. could learn from the effective strategies in place elsewhere to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities."
The countries with the best record of reducing traffic deaths have comprehensive safety programs that include improvement in road design and traffic management, regulation of vehicle safety, and regulation of driver behaviors regarding speed, alcohol and drug use, and seat belt and motorcycle helmet use, the committee found.
"These management practices have produced success in other countries," said Oster, "but are lacking in the traffic safety programs of most U.S. states."
Two enforcement tools widely credited with fatality reductions in other countries -- automatic enforcement of speed limits with speed cameras and frequent roadside sobriety checks -- are not common in the United States because of legal restrictions, popular opposition and cost considerations, the report said.
