Practitioner Perceptions of Large US City Traffic Fatality Problems: Automobile Dependence, Weak Institutions, and “Driving with Impunity”?

Traffic fatality rates increased more in large US cities than in the rest of the country between 2008-2012 and 2018-2022. Interviews with practitioners from seven high-fatality-rate cities versus seven low-fatality-rate cities suggested that automobile-oriented land use patterns and roadway designs underpinned high fatality rates. While these relationships are well-established, practitioner comments also suggested a need to investigate whether 1) weak institutional support in high-fatality-rate cities prevented changing high-risk system characteristics and 2) more speeding and reckless driving may have contributed to large city fatality rate increases in the 2010s.