Traffic safety messages kill
2022-05-02 20:52:28.731317+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
Can behavioral interventions be too salient? Evidence from traffic safety messages. Examining a Texas DOT traffic safety campaign which displays the number of traffic crashes on dynamic message signs.
Contrary to policy-makers’ expectations, we found that displaying fatality messages increases the number of traffic crashes. Campaign weeks realize a 1.52% increase in crashes within 5 km of DMSs, slightly diminishing to a 1.35% increase over the 10 km after DMSs. ... The social costs of these fatality messages are large: Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that this campaign causes an additional 2600 crashes and 16 fatalities per year in Texas alone, with a social cost of $377 million per year.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abm3427
Ars Technica: Highway warnings about traffic deaths may increase crashes, study finds
Via the long way around from https://twitter.com/JessieSingerNYC/status/1521098095932723200