Opinion
Making Driving Safe
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There are two ways to make car travel safer: improving driver behavior and improving technology. Both approaches can achieve gains. But the prospective gains from technology are far larger.
By Kim Schoenholtz and Stephen Cecchetti
Unless you are a skydiver or bungee jumper, getting into a car is almost surely the riskiest thing you regularly do. The data bear this out. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2013, people in the United States drove 3 trillion vehicle miles and were involved in accidents causing 32,719 fatalities to occupants and non-occupants, or 1.09 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven. That is 300 times higher than the fatality rate in commercial air travel!
There are two ways to make car travel safer: improving driver behavior and improving technology. Both approaches can achieve gains. But the prospective gains from technology are far larger.
Starting with driver behavior, even seemingly irrelevant decisions can have a sizable impact on risk. When people look for a place to live, they frequently consider the cost of their commute both in time and money. Few consider that the risk of an accident declines as the distance traveled gets shorter.
Read full article as published by The Huffington Post
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Kim Schoenholtz is Professor of Management Practice in the Department of Economics and Director of the Center for Global Economy and Business.
There are two ways to make car travel safer: improving driver behavior and improving technology. Both approaches can achieve gains. But the prospective gains from technology are far larger.
Starting with driver behavior, even seemingly irrelevant decisions can have a sizable impact on risk. When people look for a place to live, they frequently consider the cost of their commute both in time and money. Few consider that the risk of an accident declines as the distance traveled gets shorter.
Read full article as published by The Huffington Post
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Kim Schoenholtz is Professor of Management Practice in the Department of Economics and Director of the Center for Global Economy and Business.