These types of stats are almost meaningless to compare because most of the difference in outcomes is caused by cultural differences which are difficult and unlikely to change. There are two factors that have more effect on traffic safety in the US than anything else when compared to most of the rest of the world: 1) More total miles driven per capita, 2) Distracted driving.
To expand on #2 above, most of the world still predominantly drives manual transmission vehicles, and licensing and enforcing standards are much higher, as well as cultural factors which increase driving engagement. All of this culminates in the average driver being much much more attentive of their surroundings outside the US than inside the US. In the US its nearly the reverse, majority of vehicles are automatic transmissions, almost all newer cars now have BLISS and other automated safety systems which are a reaction to fatalities from distracted driving. Texting while driving is epidemic and is more dangerous now in most states than drunk driving is.
Replicating the factors that Oslo has which drives their stats in the US is likely to be impossible, and probably would create such far-reaching consequences that it's also undesirable.
Requiring drivers to be 18 and take extensive driver training and having a zero tolerance for drunk driving is certainly “cultural”.
But for the the technical argument (cars, infrastructure) I’m not so sure. Manuals are definitely going the way of the dinosaur in Norway (people buy SUVs and Teslas - they don’t even have manual as an option).
Distraction is a problem but it seems it should be as big a problem everywhere where there are distractions. What helps there is infrastructure: a distracted person is much less dangerous in a roundabout than in an intersection. A cyclist on a separate path is less likely to be hit by both drunk and distracted drivers etc.
But yes these things are expensive. The consequence of replacing thousands of intersections with roundabouts is huge. Building bridges and tunnels so pedestrians never need to cross roads is expensive. Converting highways to be separated without oncoming traffic is really expensive, even if Norway and Sweden fancy the cheaper alternating 2+1 lane conversions.
Getting rid of the first part of deaths is low hanging fruit. Just change DUI levels (perhaps doing something about distraction but it’s unfortunately much harder as there are no breath tests for distraction). That’s almost “free”.
Going the rest of the way towards zero costs a lot of (tax) money in infrastructure, and that might be a harder sell.
To expand on #2 above, most of the world still predominantly drives manual transmission vehicles, and licensing and enforcing standards are much higher, as well as cultural factors which increase driving engagement. All of this culminates in the average driver being much much more attentive of their surroundings outside the US than inside the US. In the US its nearly the reverse, majority of vehicles are automatic transmissions, almost all newer cars now have BLISS and other automated safety systems which are a reaction to fatalities from distracted driving. Texting while driving is epidemic and is more dangerous now in most states than drunk driving is.
Replicating the factors that Oslo has which drives their stats in the US is likely to be impossible, and probably would create such far-reaching consequences that it's also undesirable.