http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4308670.html

Quote :

"Give people antilock brakes, airbags and other safety devices, and they “consume” the safety improvements by driving more aggressively. This phenomenon is called the Peltzman Effect, after economist Sam Peltzman, who first wrote about it in 1976. The decades-long effort to make highways straighter, wider and better-marked, with more guardrails and rumble strips, has eliminated one class of dangers only to foster another: the complacent driver with a cellphone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, steering the vehicle with a knee while occasionally glancing at what’s ahead. "

Thoughts?

3/17/2009 8:08:46 PM

aren't most safety-mobiles big bloated cars not built for performance?!?

truthfully the reason is they are driven by women....

3/17/2009 8:10:52 PM

truth, to an extent.

3/17/2009 8:11:20 PM

this was always my dad's argument for driving without a seat belt

'if cars didn't have seat belts, people would drive a lot slower'

and then something about insurance companies

3/17/2009 10:01:08 PM

^need to tell him that not wearing your seat belt doesn't slow everyone else down

3/17/2009 10:21:23 PM

Speed limits are up...
Motor vehicle deaths and injuries are down.

Sounds like Popular Mechanics needs to think harder.

3/17/2009 10:56:44 PM

^ you are missing the fact that the speed limits are up in part because roads are being built so straight and wide, which the article argues is one of the main causes of drivers dangerously.

So wide roads + improved safety equipment = first higher speed limits, because on paper cars should easily be able to drive safer at faster speeds with current road design, plus more dangerous drivers

vs.

speed limits are up, accidents are down.

both claims really need more data (in proper context) to support them...

[Edited on March 17, 2009 at 11:21 PM. Reason : .]

3/17/2009 11:19:25 PM

If you want more data go look it up on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website. I don't know if 2008 data has been released yet, but I remember reading an article after the 2007 data was released and it was down yet again. It's pretty much the same story every year since the automobile was invented.

Sounds like this article needs more data if they're going to publish it. If they're going to say there are more dangerous drivers then shouldn't there be more injuries, fatalaties, or at least crashes?

Here you go...First link after I searched their website:

Quote :

"The number of people who died on the nation’s roads fell last year, leading to the lowest highway fatality rate ever recorded and the largest drop in total deaths in 15 years, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today."

http://tinyurl.com/2ue474

[Edited on March 17, 2009 at 11:28 PM. Reason : l]

3/17/2009 11:25:56 PM

you also must remember that driving in general was down in 2008

3/17/2009 11:28:47 PM

Quote :

"Monday, July 23, 2007"

3/17/2009 11:29:38 PM

Quote :

"Tuesday, March 17, 2009"

3/17/2009 11:36:42 PM

I don't think most people are smart enough to vary their driving habits based on perceived safety.

3/18/2009 12:11:28 AM