TECHNOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SAFETY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF AUTOMOBILE OCCUPANT-PROTECTION REGULATION

Technology and human behaviour can influence the effectiveness of safety policies. In the field of traffic safety, rational choice theorists postulate that automobile safety devices induce increased driver risk taking. Such behavioural responses could partly or totally nullify the lifesaving potential of government safety rules for new cars, such as the crashworthiness standards adopted by the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This study explores the behavioural-response hypothesis in the context of a car-vintage model of US car occupant death rates. Results from the model imply that the US standards have reduced the occupant death rate by roughly 30 percent, a finding consistent with minimal driver response to safety devices. The study provides support for the technological approach to safety policy and suggests that policymakers might consider adopting additional crashworthiness regulations, such as some form of passive-restraint programme. (Author/TRRL)

• Corporate Authors:

  Elsevier

  Radarweg 29
  Amsterdam,   Netherlands  1043 NX
• Authors:
  • Graham, J D
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 141-151
• Serial:
  • POLICY SCIENCES
  • Volume: 17

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Behavior; Crashworthiness; Drivers; Fatalities; Humidity control; Improvements; Laws; Mathematical models; Passive restraint systems; Restraint systems; Risk assessment; Risk taking; Safety; Technology; Traffic safety; Vehicle occupants
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mortality rates
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Humidification; Occupant restraint
• ITRD Terms: 9001: Behaviour; 1243: Car; 1772: Driver; 1602: Fatality; 9108: Improvement; 6473: Mathematical model; 2259: Risk taking; 1665: Safety; 3855: Technology; 8122: USA; 1715: Vehicle occupant
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00399439
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 25 2004 2:43AM