My intuition is that car drivers don’t care about car safety.
They definitely do care about safety. Manufacturers keep introducing advanced safety features, and automobile safety is increasing quite rapidly. (Deaths per capita have fallen 34% since 1970. This is in spite of the fact that the percentage of drivers on the road per year has tended to increase, and miles per driver generally increases as well. Some of this change may be due to improved medical care, but that certainly can’t explain much of the improvement dramatic improvement.)
In addition, brands like Volvo are focused almost entirely on safety. Why would they invest so much in safety unless people cared about safety?
The same people who buy “safe” cars drive when tired and take insufficient breaks, even though study after study shows this can be as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.
Just.… no. This is wrong for a couple reasons. First of all, people who buy cars with a reputation for safety are also much safer drivers! Volvo is once again a good example. I can’t find it now, but I recall reading a study that said that a major reason Volvos are statistically much safer vehicles in terms of driver deaths is just because the type of people who drive Volvos are so much more cautious.
They definitely do care about safety. Manufacturers keep introducing advanced safety features, and automobile safety is increasing quite rapidly.
Cars are getting safer but that doesn’t mean much. When I say “Care about safety” I mean that when given the choice between a car that has +10 safety and a car that has +10 pretty people would pick the car that’s safer. People don’t. People pick cars based on looks first, and other attributes such as power, torque, features and safety as secondary concerns. People are embarrassed to drive in an ugly car but are not embarrassed to drive their friends in a pretty but unsafe car.
In addition, brands like Volvo are focused almost entirely on safety
This too is evidence for safety as a secondary priority! If every manufacturer already had safety as their #1 priority you wouldn’t be able to advertise with “We care about safety!”. You pick a marketing strategy to get that segment of the population that cares specifically about the marketing message you send. Some car manufacturers try to get those people who care specifically about safety, some try to get those people who care about the environment, some try to get those people who care about fuel efficiency. The market is segmented based on second order preferences. Not on the thing people care about most.
This is wrong for a couple reasons
I didn’t mean to imply that people who buy safe cars take fewer breaks or drive when tired more compared to people who drive regular cars. I meant it quite literally that even though they buy a safe car they still take risks that are—compared to other risk they take on a daily basis—way out of proportion.
And if Volvo drivers indeed drive much safer than other people do this too is evidence for the general disregard for safety by the rest of the population! So again, safety as a secondary concern in practice. Right up there with fuel efficiency, engine noise and the number of cup holders.
I tend to agree with your points. Moreover, caring about whether the car will save your reckless self is not the same thing as caring about safety, when you are the one controlling the car. To borrow from a security industry truism, safety is a process, not a product. Somebody drifting left and right while trying to text a friend is not someone who cares about safety, even if they made extra sure to get a car with side-impact air bags.
They definitely do care about safety. Manufacturers keep introducing advanced safety features, and automobile safety is increasing quite rapidly. (Deaths per capita have fallen 34% since 1970. This is in spite of the fact that the percentage of drivers on the road per year has tended to increase, and miles per driver generally increases as well. Some of this change may be due to improved medical care, but that certainly can’t explain much of the improvement dramatic improvement.)
In addition, brands like Volvo are focused almost entirely on safety. Why would they invest so much in safety unless people cared about safety?
Just.… no. This is wrong for a couple reasons. First of all, people who buy cars with a reputation for safety are also much safer drivers! Volvo is once again a good example. I can’t find it now, but I recall reading a study that said that a major reason Volvos are statistically much safer vehicles in terms of driver deaths is just because the type of people who drive Volvos are so much more cautious.
Cars are getting safer but that doesn’t mean much. When I say “Care about safety” I mean that when given the choice between a car that has +10 safety and a car that has +10 pretty people would pick the car that’s safer. People don’t. People pick cars based on looks first, and other attributes such as power, torque, features and safety as secondary concerns. People are embarrassed to drive in an ugly car but are not embarrassed to drive their friends in a pretty but unsafe car.
This too is evidence for safety as a secondary priority! If every manufacturer already had safety as their #1 priority you wouldn’t be able to advertise with “We care about safety!”. You pick a marketing strategy to get that segment of the population that cares specifically about the marketing message you send. Some car manufacturers try to get those people who care specifically about safety, some try to get those people who care about the environment, some try to get those people who care about fuel efficiency. The market is segmented based on second order preferences. Not on the thing people care about most.
I didn’t mean to imply that people who buy safe cars take fewer breaks or drive when tired more compared to people who drive regular cars. I meant it quite literally that even though they buy a safe car they still take risks that are—compared to other risk they take on a daily basis—way out of proportion.
And if Volvo drivers indeed drive much safer than other people do this too is evidence for the general disregard for safety by the rest of the population! So again, safety as a secondary concern in practice. Right up there with fuel efficiency, engine noise and the number of cup holders.
I tend to agree with your points. Moreover, caring about whether the car will save your reckless self is not the same thing as caring about safety, when you are the one controlling the car. To borrow from a security industry truism, safety is a process, not a product. Somebody drifting left and right while trying to text a friend is not someone who cares about safety, even if they made extra sure to get a car with side-impact air bags.