IN 2013 the number of people killed in road accidents in Sweden was 264, a record low. Although the number of cars in use in the country and the number of miles driven have both doubled since 1970, the number of road deaths has fallen by four-fifths over the same period. Sweden’s roads have become the world’s safest, with only three of every 100,000 Swedes dying on the roads each year, compared with 5.5 per 100,000 across the European Union, 11.4 in America—and 40 in the Dominican Republic, which has the world's deadliest traffic. Other places such as New York City are now trying to copy its success. How has Sweden done it?
