The Value of Life and of Accident Prevention

Abstract

Transport investment and transport policy decisions will both have an effect on the level of the accident rates of travellers. For most forms of investment in transport infrastructure, the benefits from reductions in accident rates will be relatively small compared with the value of time savings, though it is nevertheless important that they should be measured with some degree of accuracy. For policy decisions on such issues as the imposition of road speed limits or the framing of regulations for air traffic control, and for specalised investment in such items as street lighting or marine radar equipment, the expected benefits from accident reduction are obviously all-important. The valuation of accident reduction has thus become a major concern for transport economists.