Paternalism and acceptability in road safety work

In order to improve road safety, a number of strategies have been employed, ranging from safety campaigns, training and education, to changed regulations, stricter enforcement, infrastructural improvement and safer vehicles. The system of road traffic has traditionally been quite liberal, with low barriers to entry and respect for the privacy of individuals, as long as they abide by regulations. Arguably, the success of road safety work has come at the price of increased paternalism. The aim of this paper is threefold: first, to give a brief presentation of conceptualisations of paternalism, and their relevance to road safety. Second, to point out some of the influences leading to increased use of paternalistic measures in road safety work. Finally, I will try to define to what extent and in which situations overtly paternalistic measures appear to be (or are perceived to be) unacceptable to the public.

[1]  P. Stern,et al.  Social Structural and Social Psychological Bases of Environmental Concern , 1998 .

[2]  Herman Katteler.  Driver acceptance of mandatory intelligent speed adaptation , 2005 .

[3]  Edward N. Zalta,et al.  Funding Models for Collaborative Information Resources and Repositories: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Experience , 2010 .

[4]  Joseph R. Gusfield,et al.  The Culture of Public Problems: Drinking-Driving and the Symbolic Order , 1983 .

[5]  Gregory Mitchell,et al.  Libertarian Paternalism is an Oxymoron , 2004 .

[6]  J. Garvill,et al.  Value Structures behind Proenvironmental Behavior , 2002 .

[7]  Colin Camerer,et al.  Regulation for Conservatives: Behavioral Economics and the Case for 'Asymmetric Paternalism' , 2003 .

[8]  Henriette Wallen Warner,et al.  Drivers’ propensity to have different types of intelligent speed adaptation installed in their cars , 2010 .

[9]  Andras Varhelyi,et al.  Driver comprehension and acceptance of the active accelerator pedal after long-term use , 2008 .

[10]  Malcolm Man-Son-Hing,et al.  The acceptability to older drivers of different types of licensing restriction. , 2007, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[11]  Ronald Bayer,et al.  Paternalism & Its Discontents: Motorcycle Helmet Laws, Libertarian Values, and Public Health , 2007 .

[12]  Samantha Jamson.  Would those who need ISA, use it? Investigating the relationship between drivers' speed choice and their use of a voluntary ISA system , 2002 .

[13]  Truls Vaa,et al.  Modelling Driver Behaviour on Basis of Emotions and Feelings: Intelligent Transport Systems and Behavioural Adaptations , 2007 .

[14]  Cass R. Sunstein,et al.  Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron , 2003 .

[15]  Christopher N. Watling,et al.  Exploring perceived legitimacy of traffic law enforcement , 2012 .

[16]  Jörgen Garvill,et al.  Factors influencing drivers' decision to install an electronic speed checker in the car , 2003 .

[17]  Vincent Marchau,et al.  Desirability of advanced driver assistance from road safety perspective: the case of ISA , 2005 .

[18]  Karel Brookhuis,et al.  Modelling acceptability of the intelligent speed adapter , 2007 .

[19]  Jameson M. Wetmore.  Redefining Risks and Redistributing Responsibilities: Building Networks to Increase Automobile Safety , 2004 .

[20]  Louise Eriksson,et al.  Acceptability of traffic safety measures with personal privacy implications , 2012 .

[21]  K. Grill,et al.  Responsibility, paternalism and alcohol interlocks , 2012 .

[22]  O M J Carsten,et al.  Intelligent speed adaptation: accident savings and cost-benefit analysis. , 2005, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[23]  Karel Brookhuis,et al.  Towards defining a unified concept for the acceptability of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS): A conceptual analysis based on the case of Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) , 2010 .

[24]  Beate Elvebakk,et al.  Vision Zero: Remaking Road Safety , 2007 .

[25]  Thomas J Triggs,et al.  Perceptual lane width, wide perceptual road centre markings and driving speeds , 2004, Ergonomics.

[26]  N. Haworth,et al.  VISION ZERO: AN ETHICAL APPROACH TO SAFETY AND MOBILITY , 1999 .

[27]  B. Hamilton-Baillie.  Shared Space: Reconciling People, Places and Traffic , 2008 .

[28]  Seana Valentine Shiffrin,et al.  Paternalism, Unconscionability Doctrine, and Accommodation , 2000 .