ABSTRACT
The process for road safety policy-making varies considerably around the world. However, there are essentially two models. One model is national policy-making where the national government is responsible for most aspects of policy development and implementation regardless of whether the policies address vehicle safety, the safety of the road infrastructure, or the safety of road users (e.g., United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands). The other model is a distributed responsibility among different levels of government (i.e., national, state/province). Canada, the United States, and Australia are examples of this model. In Canada, the federal government (specifically Transport Canada) administers the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which addresses primarily the regulation of vehicle manufacturers who sell new vehicles in the Canadian market, and the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, which regulates extra-provincial motor carriers (i.e., heavy trucks and buses). While Transport Canada is involved in road infrastructure by providing some funding to
provinces/territories for the national highway system, it is not involved in developing policies in this area. On the other hand, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT)’s Federal Highway Administration is much more involved in policies related to road infrastructure in that country.
