Topic: Laws and Regulations

NHTSA: Laws, Regulations, Guidance
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Contains resources on laws administered by NHTSA and other resources related to traffic safety.

Traffic Safety Legislative Fact Sheets
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Contains traffic safety fact sheets discussing traffic safety laws.

State Highway Safety Laws
Governors Highway Safety Association
Provides a comprehensive summary of state highway safety laws, such as aggressive driving laws, cell phone driving, child passenger safety, etc.

Traffic Safety
National Conference of State Legislatures
NCSL collects up-to-date information of interest to state legislators on aggressive driving, distracted driving, driver licensing, child passenger safety, drunk driving, seat belts, motorcycle helmets, school buses, speed limits and dozens of other topics. The research includes laws, articles, charts and research studies. NCSL is cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to focus on compelling safety issues facing state policymakers. Information in a variety of forms is provided to state legislatures on this topic, including policy reports, LegisBriefs and technical assistance.

Traffic Safety Legislation Tracking Database
National Conference of State Legislatures
Allows the searching of recent years' legislation by state, topic, key word, year, status, and primary sponsor.

State Laws and Regulations
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
This web page contains resources on state legislation related to transportation safety.

Evaluation of Iowa’s 70 mph Speed Limit -- 2.5 Year Update (PDF)
Center for Transportation Research and Education, Iowa State University, 2009
CTRE Project 06-247
On July 1, 2005, the State of Iowa implemented a 70 mile per hour (mph) speed limit on most rural Interstates. This document reports on a study of the safety effect of this change.

After the change, mean and 85th percentile speeds increased by about 2 mph on rural Interstates, but speeding was reduced (the number of drivers exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph decreased from 20% to about 8%). In keeping with longer term trends, volumes also increased (about 5%, which was as expected). There was no evidence of traffic shift (diversion) from off-system to on-system (rural Interstate) roads.

Major Increase in Head Injuries Noted After Repeal of Pennsylvania's Motorcycle Helmet Law
American Journal of Public Health, 2008
Pennsylvania motorcyclists suffered large increases in head injury deaths and hospitalizations in the two years following the repeal of its motorcycle helmet law, according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

FHWA Road Safety Audit Guidelines
FHWA, 2005
FHWA-SA-06-06
Provides a foundation for public agencies and Tribal Governments in the U.S. to draw upon when developing their own road safety audit policies and procedures and when conducting road safety audits within their jurisdictions.