IMPLYING THE VALUE OF LIFE FROM PUBLIC SAFETY INVESTMENTS

Many methods have been suggested for determining the value that should be given to a fatality when evaluating public investment decisions. This paper briefly reviews these methods and presents another method which is to infer a value from previous governmental decisions. The basis for and advantages of this method are explained and the potential problems in estimating an implied value are discussed. An example of its estimation, using past decisions on highway-railway crossing improvements, is then presented. While the estimation of implied values can be very difficult, it can be particularly useful for checking consistency in the allocation of resources to various public safety programs.

• Corporate Authors:

  Toronto-York University Joint Program in Transportation

  4700 Keele Street, Room 430 Osgoode Hall
  Downsview, Ontario  Canada  M3J 1P3
• Authors:
  • Byer, P H
  • BACCHUS, A
  • Melcher, R
• Publication Date: 0

Media Info

• Pagination: 32 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic analysis; Fatalities; Human factors; Investments; Railroad grade crossings; Risk management; Safety
• Old TRIS Terms: Grade crossing safety; Safety analysis
• Subject Areas: Economics; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00322546
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Res Rpt. 64
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 11 1980 12:00AM