To paraphrase a classic quote, the Swedes are different from you and me. They have more money, yes, but they also have more sense. At a recent annual traffic-safety conference called Lifesavers, we listened to a presentation by Roger Johansson, who has the wonderful title of Chief Strategist, Traffic Safety, for the Swedish Road Administration. This organization is roughly analogous to our Department of Transportation.
Making good better
At the Chicago event, Johansson outlined how Sweden, which already had one of the safest road systems in the world, set out to make it safer. And it seems to be succeeding. For instance, they have reduced traffic deaths among children younger than 15 years old from over 100 in the 1970s to fewer than 10 per year nationwide since 2004.
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