The Regulation of Motor Vehicle and Traffic Safety

1: The Motor Vehicle and Traffic Safety Mandate -- Fatalities in Traffic Accidents—Trends and Incidence -- Early Congressional Hearings on Traffic Safety -- The Traffic Safety Acts of 1966 -- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards -- Standards for Highway Safety Programs -- Other Safety Activities -- Perspectives -- Notes -- 2: A Framework for Thinking About Traffic Safety Policy -- The Nature of the Mandate -- The Technological Approach -- The Risk Homeostatic Approach -- A General Framework: The Individual Benefit-Cost Approach -- Potential Imperfections in Motorist Decisions: Types and Evidence -- Traffic Safety Problems: A Matter of Degree -- Notes -- Appendix: Mathmatical Exposition of the Individual Benefit-Cost Approach -- 3: The Contribution of Vehicle Safety Standards to Traffic Safety -- Changes in Traffic Fatality Rates -- Evidence on the Safety Effects -- Interpreting the Evidence -- Notes -- 4: Economics of Mandatory Passive Restraints: Benefit-Cost Analysis, Rulemaking and Court Decisions -- Background for Crash Protection Rules and Court Decisions -- Benefit—Cost Studies of Mandatory Passive Restraints -- Critique of the Benefit-Cost Analysis -- Perspective on Regulatory and Legal Decisions -- The Dole Rule—Economic Critique of the Current Standard -- Notes -- 5: Improving Traffic Safety Policy -- Immediate Causes of Imperfections -- Nonmarket Failure: An Obstacle to Policy Perfection -- Correcting Policy Imperfections with a Better Framework -- Notes -- 6: Summary Remarks and Recommendations -- Summary Remarks -- Recommendations for Improving Traffic Safety Policy -- List of Tables And Figures Table 1-1 Causes of Death, 1984 -- Table 1–2 Incidence of Motor Vehicle Fatalities, by Age Group -- Table 1–3 Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rates, 1947–1986 -- Figure 1–1 Annual Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rates, 1947–1986 -- Table 1–4 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards -- Table 1–5 Standards for Highway Safety Programs -- Table 2–1 Representative Evidence on the Individual Benefit Cost Approach -- Table 3–1 Impact of Vehicle Safety Standards on Traffic Fatality Rates and Lives Saved -- Table 4–1 Benefit-Cost Studies of Mandatory Passive Restraints -- Table 5–1 Ranking of National Problems.