Driver safety arms race

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The driver safety arms race is phenomenon whereby car drivers are incentivized to buy larger auto-vehicles in order to protect themselves against other large auto-vehicles. [1] [2] [3] [4] This has a spiralling effect whereby cars get increasingly larger, which has adverse overall effects on traffic safety. [5] [6] It is an example of a prisoners' dilemma, as it can be individually rational to attain larger vehicles while having adverse outcomes on all traffic users. [7]

References

  1. ↑ White, Michelle J. (2004). "The "Arms Race" on American Roads: The Effect of Sport Utility Vehicles and Pickup Trucks on Traffic Safety" . The Journal of Law and Economics. 47 (2): 333–355. doi:10.1086/422979. ISSN   0022-2186. S2CID   10175854.
  2. ↑ "Heavy cars and SUVs: The external costs of the vehicle-weight "arms race"". The Journalist's Resource. 2013-11-12.
  3. ↑ Grabar, Henry (2018-11-30). "The SUV Arms Race". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339.
  4. ↑ "Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them". The Economist. 2024. ISSN   0013-0613.
  5. ↑ "SUVs protect drivers, but make everyone else less safe. How do we change that?". CBC. 2022.
  6. ↑ "Driver safety 'arms race' fuelling boom in gas-guzzling SUVs, says journalist". CBC. 2019.
  7. ↑ Tay, Richard (2002). "The Prisoner's Dilemma and Vehicle Safety: Some Policy Implications". Journal of Transport Economics and Policy. 36 (3): 491–495. ISSN   0022-5258. JSTOR   20053916.


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