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

The report supports the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which includes a focus on reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

Implementing Meaningful Safety Programs to Save Lives

"Countermeasures That Work" analyzes how each safety issue impacts society and provides strategies for communities to consider implementing. 

The guide describes these strategies and countermeasures, summarizes their use, effectiveness, costs, and implementation time, and provides references to important research summaries and individual studies available to improve road and driver safety.

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 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.