Transportation Safety in a Second-Best Environment

University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies Future of Mobility Series (2023)

U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2023-8

7 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2023 Last revised: 6 Feb 2023

See all articles by Gregory H. Shill

Gregory H. Shill

University of Iowa - College of Law; University of Iowa Tippie College of Business; University of Iowa Driving Safety Research Institute

Date Written: January 30, 2023

Abstract

Transportation policy has not been short on big ideas. One persistent constraint, however, is that most good ideas are not designed to pass through the eye of the relevant needle at scale. Rather, they tend to provoke a fatal reaction from key veto holders—municipal governments, transportation regulators, legislatures, courts—that are structurally biased against changes to the status quo. This bias is a major obstacle to effective mitigation of the byproducts of the automobile. At the same time, a major increase in roadway deaths since 2010, especially among pedestrians, has injected new urgency. Taking that imperative seriously requires ideas that can succeed not only by overcoming embedded constraints, but by sidestepping them.

This piece, published by the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies as part of its Future of Mobility Series, develops the concept of solving for roadway safety in a less-than-optimal ("second-best") policy environment. It also offers some specific solutions that are designed to work despite entrenched legal and institutional constraints.

Keywords: transportation, safety, driving, pedestrian, municipal, vehicle, second-best

JEL Classification: K23, K13, R41, R48

Suggested Citation

Shill, Gregory H., Transportation Safety in a Second-Best Environment (January 30, 2023). University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies Future of Mobility Series (2023), U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2023-8, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4342767

Gregory H. Shill (Contact Author)

University of Iowa - College of Law ( email )

Boyd Law Building
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

University of Iowa Tippie College of Business

108 Pappajohn Building
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

University of Iowa Driving Safety Research Institute

2401 Oakdale Blvd.
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

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