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risk
You become less careful when you feel safer.
Peltzman's 1975 study argued that mandatory automobile safety regulations did not lead to the predicted decrease in aggregate traffic fatality rates because drivers engaged in offsetting risky behavior.
The claim should specify 'fatality rates' instead of 'accident rates' to accurately reflect the study's focus on death per vehicle-mile.
Your level of risk-taking is often driven by your comfort, not your actual safety.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Peltzman, 1975
- What the check found
- Peltzman's 1975 paper focuses on the 'death rate' (fatalities), not the total number of accidents. The claim mischaracterizes the metric and presents a disputed conclusion as a simple observation.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.