Public Health On Call

Right-Sizing Traffic Enforcement for Safer Roadways

2026-07-01

About this episode: The U.S. stands out among peer countries for having the worst rate of traffic deaths. Approaching this issue from a public health angle can help to make roadways safer by focusing on population-level interventions rather than directing resources towards policing "bad apple" individuals. In this episode: Tiffany Joyce Smith, lead author of a new report on the role of enforcement in road safety, explains the value of a proactive approach to preventing crashes versus a reactive one. Guest: Tiffany Joyce Smith, MPH, is a public health and mobility expert and program advisor with the Vision Zero Network. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a ped...

About this episode:

The U.S. stands out among peer countries for having the worst rate of traffic deaths. Approaching this issue from a public health angle can help to make roadways safer by focusing on population-level interventions rather than directing resources towards policing "bad apple" individuals. In this episode: Tiffany Joyce Smith, lead author of a new report on the role of enforcement in road safety, explains the value of a proactive approach to preventing crashes versus a reactive one.

Guest:

Tiffany Joyce Smith, MPH, is a public health and mobility expert and program advisor with the Vision Zero Network.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. He served as the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health from 2005 to 2009.

Show links and related content:

Right-Sizing the Role of Traffic Enforcement: Prioritizing Effective, Cost-Efficient and Equitable Improvements to Road Safety—Vision Zero Network
Money Drove Criminal Justice System In Ferguson, DOJ Report Says—NPR
The Surprising Benefits of Narrower Traffic Lanes—Public Health On Call (November 2023)
Why Are So Many Pedestrians Getting Struck and Killed By Cars, and Why Aren't We Doing More To Stop It?—Public Health On Call (July 2023)

Transcript information:

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