Rural traffic safety in the Northern Rocky Mountain Region revisited

This report seeks to update and expand upon a 2007 (Vachal and McGowan) report by determining changes in traffic safety policy that may have occurred in each of the Northern Rocky Mountain Region (NRMR) states (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) between 2006 and 2010. The report will ascertain what affect those policy changes have had on specific traffic safety issues, and compare each of the NRMR states with one another, with the NRMR region as a whole, and with the United States overall. In general, NRMR State Highway Safety Plan/Highway Safety Plans continue to focus on aggressive driving/speeding, impaired driving, seat belt use, graduate driver licensing, motorcycle safety and pedestrian safety. Traffic fatalities have declined in this region. There have been few changes made to NRMR state traffic safety policies from 2006 to 2010, so the likelihood that these declines resulted from changes in state law is low. Future research is needed to explain the decline in traffic fatalities in the NRMR.