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Science 22 May 1981:
Vol. 212. no. 4497, pp. 893 - 899
DOI: 10.1126/science.212.4497.893
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Articles

Conflicting Objectives in Regulating the Automobile

Lester B. Lave 1

1 Senior fellow in the Economics Studies Program at The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. 20036, and professor of economics at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Federal regulation of automobile safety, emissions, and fuel economy is contradictory. Safety equipment and emissions control reduce fuel economy; reducing the size of automobiles is estimated to increase fatalities by 1400 a year and significantly increase serious injuries. These secondary impacts of regulation roughly double the estimated costs of achieving the individual goals. In formulating regulations, these contradictions must be taken into account, along with the effects on the price of the vehicle and its attractiveness to buyers.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Health and safety risk analyses: information for better decisions.
L. Lave (1987)
Science 236, 291-295
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Automobile-Related Injuries: Council on Scientific Affairs.
(1983)
JAMA 249, 3216-3222
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The nature of technological hazard.
C Hohenemser, R. Kates, and P Slovic (1983)
Science 220, 378-384
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)