Has the contribution of unsafe road user behaviour to traffic fatalities changed over time?

Unsafe road user behaviour makes a major contribution to traffic fatalities. This paper studies whether this contribution has changed over time in Norway. Data on five violations of road traffic law collected at various points in time from about 1980 to about 2025 were analysed to determine changes in violation rate. The violations included: speeding, drinking-and-driving, non-use of seat belts, non-use or wrong use of child restraints, and failure to yield to pedestrians crossing the road in marked pedestrian crossings. All these violations are committed at a lower rate today than in the past. Their contribution to traffic fatalities in Norway has been reduced over time. In the 1980s, eliminating the violations included in the study could have reduced the number of traffic fatalities by about 70%. In the 2020s, the corresponding potential reduction of the number of fatalities by eliminating the violations was about 35%. Violations of road traffic law contribute less to traffic fatalities now than in the 1980s (1980–89) and 2000s (2000–09). An increase of police enforcement may reduce the rate of violations. Technological solutions, like alco-locks, seat belt reminders, intelligent speed adaptation and pedestrian detection systems may further reduce the rate of violations.