title: Evaluating public transport and road safety measures.
abstract: This paper discusses three approaches to the evaluation of transport safety measures--labelled cost-benefit analysis, industrial risk assessment and the elimination of all avoidable accidents--and the institutional settings in which each is dominant. This paper considers the application of these approaches primarily to road and rail safety measures in Great Britain. It is suggested that the elimination of all avoidable accidents should be rejected because of its large and open-ended resource requirement, but it is acknowledged that this is difficult because it implies the acceptance of avoidable accidents on public transport systems. The paper suggests a framework drawing on the other two approaches, in which cost-benefit analysis is combined with a limit on the tolerable risks to individuals.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Transport Studies, University College London, U.K.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D011890:Railroads / Q000191:economics; D012449:Safety; D014186:Transportation / Q000191:economics*; D006113:United Kingdom