| Course | SOS-3700 Challenges in U.S. and Global Public Health |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 9 |
| Paper type | Written assignment comparing a U.S. and global public health challenge |
| Length | About 1,032 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S. in Health Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for SOS 3700 Module 9
Forty Thousand a Year: Why American Roads Stay Deadlier Than Its Peers' and What Safe System Policy Asks
Student Name
B.S. in Health Studies, Thomas Edison State University
SOS-3700: Challenges in U.S. and Global Public Health
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Forty Thousand a Year: Why American Roads Stay Deadlier Than Its Peers' and What Safe System Policy Asks
Introduction
Roughly 1.19 million people die on the world's roads in a year, and no other cause kills more people between the ages of 5 and 29 (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023). In the United States, crashes killed almost 43,000 people in 2021, the most in sixteen years, and still killed nearly 41,000 in 2023. As a paramedic, I respond to these crashes every month. This paper compares the challenge in the United States with the global picture, explains why the United States lags other wealthy countries and assesses the policy approach most countries that have succeeded now follow.
The Global Picture
Globally, road deaths fell about 5 percent between 2010 and 2021, even as the number of vehicles and the world's population grew, and more than 100 countries reduced their death tolls over that period (WHO, 2023). The burden is uneven. Nine of every ten of those deaths happen in poorer countries, where walkers, cyclists, motorbikes and freight trucks crowd the same lanes and an ambulance may be hours away. More than half of all road deaths are among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. The United Nations, launching a second road safety decade in 2020, asked member countries to cut traffic deaths in half by 2030.
The United States Compared With Its Peers
The United States is a wealthy country with modern vehicles, trauma systems and highways, yet its record is an outlier among high-income nations. A CDC analysis of 20 high-income countries found that the United States had the highest motor vehicle crash death rate, more than twice the average of the comparison countries, and had made the smallest improvement over the preceding decade (Sauber-Schatz et al., 2016). The analysis estimated that thousands of American lives could be saved each year if the country matched the average rate of its peers.
The reasons are partly structural. Americans drive more miles per person than people in other wealthy countries, often on wide arterial roads designed for speed that also serve pedestrians. Vehicles have grown larger and heavier, which increases harm to people outside them. Long commutes and limited public transit in many regions leave people with no alternative to driving, including older adults and teenagers. And policy has traditionally focused on changing driver behavior through education and enforcement rather than on designing roads and vehicles so that human mistakes do not kill.
| Measure | United States | High-income peers |
|---|---|---|
| Crash death rate trend since 2000 | Slow decline, then a rise after 2019 | Steady declines in most countries |
| Seat belt use | High, but below leading peers, especially in rear seats | Near universal in many |
| Speed management | Speed limits raised on many roads; cameras limited by state law | Widespread speed cameras and lower urban limits |
| Pedestrian deaths | Highest in about four decades in 2022 | Declining in most |
The Safe System Approach
Countries with the best records share an approach that began with Sweden's parliament adopting Vision Zero in 1997: the principle that no loss of life on the roads is acceptable. The Safe System approach behind it accepts that people will make mistakes and holds that the system should be designed so that mistakes do not cause death or serious injury (International Transport Forum, 2008). In practice, this means managing speeds to levels the human body can survive, separating pedestrians and cyclists from fast traffic, building roundabouts instead of signalized intersections, designing safer vehicles and ensuring fast emergency care. Responsibility is shared among road designers, vehicle makers, enforcement agencies and road users, not placed on drivers alone.
The United States has begun to adopt this framework. The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Roadway Safety Strategy, released in January 2022, made the Safe System approach the basis of federal road safety policy and set a long-term goal of zero deaths (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2022). The infrastructure law passed the year before created a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program to help cities and counties plan and build safer streets. Many American cities have announced Vision Zero goals, though a survey of road safety professionals found that awareness and understanding of the concept varied widely (Evenson et al., 2018).
Comparing the Challenges
The challenges at home and abroad differ in their causes but share a lesson. In low- and middle-income countries, rapid motorization has outpaced road design, enforcement and emergency care, and the most urgent needs are basic: sidewalks, helmet laws for motorcyclists, seat belt enforcement and trauma systems. In the United States, the basic tools exist, but the road system was built around moving cars quickly, and policy has hesitated to slow them. Both settings show that road deaths are not accidents in the sense of being unavoidable; they reflect choices about how roads, vehicles and laws are designed.
The political challenges also differ. Globally, the obstacle is often money and institutional capacity. In the United States, it is often authority and acceptance: speed cameras require state permission, and many states restrict or ban them, while road design is controlled by a mix of state transportation departments and local governments whose priorities may favor traffic flow.
Recommendations
Three policies would move the United States toward its peers. First, states should allow automated speed enforcement, starting in school zones and on high-crash corridors, since speed is the factor that most determines whether a crash is survivable. Second, federal and state transportation funding should reward Safe System design, such as roundabouts, protected bike lanes and road diets on dangerous arterials, rather than projects that mainly add capacity. Third, federal vehicle safety standards should begin to account for the safety of people outside the vehicle, including pedestrians struck by large trucks and SUVs. These changes would bring American policy in line with what has worked elsewhere.
Conclusion
Road deaths are a global public health problem, falling slowly worldwide but remaining stubbornly high in the United States compared with similar countries. The Safe System approach offers a tested framework, and the United States has formally adopted it. The challenge now is to turn that commitment into speed limits, road designs and vehicle standards that make an ordinary human mistake survivable.
References
Evenson, K. R., LaJeunesse, S., & Heiny, S. (2018). Awareness of Vision Zero among United States' road safety professionals. Injury Epidemiology, 5, Article 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-018-0151-1
International Transport Forum. (2008). Towards zero: Ambitious road safety targets and the safe system approach. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789282101964-en
Sauber-Schatz, E. K., Ederer, D. J., Dellinger, A. M., & Baldwin, G. T. (2016). Vital signs: Motor vehicle injury prevention, United States and 19 comparison countries. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 65(26), 672-677. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6526e1
U.S. Department of Transportation. (2022). National roadway safety strategy.
World Health Organization. (2023). Global status report on road safety 2023.
What the SOS 3700 Module 9 instructions ask for
Module 9, Challenges in U.S. and Global Public Health Policy, carries the course objective of comparing and contrasting public health policy challenges in the United States and globally. A quarter of the SOS-3700 grade comes from five written assignments, each headed with your name, the course and code, and the term. The syllabus leaves their placement open, so this comparison is set beside the module on shared U.S. and global challenges. Prompts here usually ask you to choose a challenge, such as an infectious disease, a chronic disease, injury or access to care, describe it in the United States and globally with current data, explain the differences and evaluate policy responses. Pick a challenge with good data on both sides.
How the SOS 3700 Module 9 example is put together
The introduction sets the scale with global and U.S. numbers and states the paper's three tasks. The global section reports trends, distribution and the United Nations goal. The U.S. section compares the country with its high-income peers using a CDC analysis and a table that applies the same measures to both, then explains why the United States lags. A section on the Safe System approach explains the framework that successful countries use and shows how far the United States has adopted it. The comparison section draws the contrast the module asks for, including different political obstacles, and the recommendations follow directly from the evidence. A short conclusion restates the comparison and the remaining challenge.
SOS 3700 Module 9 rubric: what earns full marks
Scoring runs from 0 to 100. For a comparison assignment, mentors look for a genuine comparison rather than two separate descriptions: the same measures applied to both settings, differences explained with causes and similarities noted. Current data with sources and years is expected, especially from bodies such as the WHO and federal agencies. Strong papers evaluate policy responses with evidence and end with recommendations that follow from the analysis. Using the course's policy concepts, such as which level of government holds authority, shows integration with the course. Accurate APA citations, including for reports, and organized headings complete the expectations. Papers lose points for dated statistics, unsupported claims about other countries and recommendations that appear without any link to the evidence.
SOS 3700 Module 9 help: mistakes that cost marks
Comparison assignments often describe the United States in detail and the rest of the world in a paragraph. Build a short table with the same measures for both before you write, so the comparison stays balanced. Choose a challenge where reliable international data exists; injury, tobacco and vaccine-preventable diseases work well. Give years for every figure and use the most recent reports. Explain differences with causes, such as policy, design or resources, rather than impressions about culture. Make each recommendation answer a problem you identified. Tell us which challenge your mentor assigned and a writer will build the comparison around it.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More SOS 3700 and B.S. in Health Studies sample papers
- SOS 3700 Module 1: Public Health Systems Discussion: U.S. and England
- SOS 3700 Module 2: Final Project Problem Statement: SNAP Soda Waivers
- SOS 3700 Module 3: Written Assignment: Loper Bright and Health Agencies
- SOS 3700 Module 4: Final Project Background Draft: SNAP Restrictions
- SOS 3700 Module 5: Ethics Discussion: Newborn Blood Spot Storage
- SOS 3700 Module 6: Written Assignment: Insurance and Public Health Funding
- SOS 3700 Module 7: Written Assignment: The ACA and Braidwood
- SOS 3700 Module 8: Global Policy Discussion: The Pandemic Agreement
- SOS 3700 Module 10: Final Project: Health Policy Analysis Paper on SNAP
- SOS 3200 Module 2: Stress Response Paper: From Selye's Alarm Reaction to Allostatic Load and Immunity
- HEA 3050 Module 3: Menopause Paper: Hormone Therapy Decisions After the Women's Health Initiative
- HEA 3071 Module 5: Chronic Kidney Disease Case Study: Estimating GFR and Slowing Decline
- HEA 3060 Module 3: Men's Depression and Suicide Paper: How Distress Is Missed and What Prevents Deaths
SOS 3700 Module 9 questions, answered
Where can I find a free SOS 3700 Module 9 sample paper?
Above, as a finished paper, comparing road traffic deaths in the United States and globally, with a comparison table, the Safe System approach and recommendations.
How does the U.S. road death rate compare with other wealthy countries?
A CDC analysis of 20 high-income countries found the United States had the highest crash death rate, more than twice the comparison countries' average.
What is the Safe System approach?
A road safety framework that accepts human error and designs roads, speeds, vehicles and emergency care so that mistakes do not cause death or serious injury.
How many people die in road crashes worldwide?
About 1.19 million people a year, according to the WHO's 2023 global status report, with most deaths in low- and middle-income countries.
How do I write a U.S. and global comparison paper?
Choose one challenge, apply the same measures to both settings, explain differences with causes, evaluate policy responses and end with recommendations tied to the evidence.