Oct 16
(If experiencing problems with IE7, please try Firefox, Opera or Safari) To Robert Gifford Executive Director, The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety Dear Rob Failing a response, I propose to draw this one-sided correspondence to a close. I believe that I have established: a. that the claim that seat belts have saved 60000 lives …
Oct 06
To Robert Gifford Executive Director, The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety Dear Rob Thank you for sending me a paper claiming that seat belts have saved 57000 lives in the UK between 1983 and 2007. Is this the source of the 60000 claim posted on your website in 2008? I have discovered that the …
Sep 30
To Robert Gifford Executive Director, The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety Dear Rob Im sorry but I must persist. The power and endurance of the myth that PACTS and RoSPA have built around the seat belt law takes a lot of deconstructing. So long as belief in the efficacy of the law persists it …
Sep 23
To Robert Gifford Executive Director, The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety Dear Rob This claim made over a year ago is still on the PACTS website: On the 31st January 2008, the 25th anniversary of the law change which made front seatbelt wearing compulsory was celebrated. PACTS itself was set up by Barry Sheerman …
Apr 25
Moral hazard is a term used in the insurance industry to refer to the way in which behaviour alters when people acquire insurance. People with house contents insurance are less careful about locking up. Such behaviour in the eyes of insurers is immoral. The term stigmatizes human nature. We all adjust our behaviour in response …
Jan 31
Anniversaries are convenient occasions on which to reinforce myths. Twenty five years ago, 31 January 1983, it became compulsory for occupants of the front seats of cars in the UK to wear seat belts. Today Britains Department for Transport has posted a press release announcing that in the 25 years since the seat belt law …
Oct 27
Now available as a free online download Amazon Review (*****): Risk and Freedom is a book of historic significance. Published in 1985 and out of print for many years it continues to have a profound influence on road safety policy. It provides the first coherent application of the concept of risk compensation to the management …
Sep 06
Britain’s Liberal Democrat History Group provoked a mid-summer controversy with its search for the greatest British Liberal of all time. Its short list, to be voted on at the party’s annual conference in September, consisted of William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd George, John Stuart Mill and John Maynard Keynes. The front runner for most of …
Feb 22
Now on sale. Ive discovered a box with 20 copies, which I am offering through Amazon.co.uk at the original 1985 price of £10. I reproduce the sole Amazon review (*****) below. Risk and Freedom is a book of historic significance. Published in 1985 and out of print for many years it continues to have a …
All downloads are in PDF format, unless otherwise stated. 2017 The Pathway to Driverless Cars and the Sacred Cow Problem: some behavioural challenges to think about. Presentation for National Infrastructure Commission Roundtable on connected and autonomous vehicles, London, 27 April. 2016 Driverless cars and the sacred cow problem. Cultural Theory of Risk and Regulatory Governance Workshop, Tilburg, …