Cost-Benefit Study of a Proposed Daylight Running Lights Safety Programme

Abstract

This article reports a model developed for the U.S. Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) to evaluate the costs and safety benefits of a proposed safety regulation on daylight running lights. Three alternative policies are considered: (A) not to issue the regulation and not to engage in any further investigation; (B) to issue the regulation as soon as possible; (C) to undertake further research and field testing before making a decision. The model does not require the assignment of a specific societal value per highway fatality prevented; rather, it determines for what range of values each of the alternatives (A)-(C) is most preferred. Based on the model, a recommendation was made within D.O.T. to pursue alternative (C).