Italians do it better (the MBA)

Monday, January 09, 2006

To wear seat belts is unsafe

According to my "Microeconomics" book, to wear seat belts is a bad thing. Indeed a study on the subject showed that people percieve a lower risk when they drive wearing the seat belt. This is a psicological effect which makes people driving faster, because they adjust their speed to the new percieved risk. It is similar to what happens when you see that there is ice on the street and you drive slower. People respond to seat belts as the would to an improvement in road conditions- by faster and less careful driving. So a law that imposes to wear seat belts decreas the mortality of car accidents but at the same time increases its number... and the avarage number of deaths remains the same! But what about pedestrians? Indeed their safety is not changed by the fact that people wear seat belts but they are negatively affected by the fact that there are more accidents in which they are involved. This is amazing. I discourage everybody by wearing a seat belt anymore. And if a "mossos d'esquadra" stops you and try to fine you for not waring a seat belt, try to convince him as well!

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