When people are introduced to new safety measures, they automatically increase their risky behavior, entirely offsetting the intended benefits of the safety device.

A closer look

When people are introduced to new safety measures, they automatically increase their risky behavior, entirely offsetting the intended benefits of the safety device. The Peltzman effect, or risk compensation, is the cynical reality behind why introducing mandatory seatbelts in cars initially caused a massive spike in pedestrian fatalities. Once drivers feel slightly more secure wrapped in steel and airbags, their brains subconsciously decide they can now afford to drive like absolute maniacs while eating a burrito and texting their friends. We all have a baseline quota of acceptable danger we want to experience, so if you give a skydiver a backup parachute, they will just wait longer to pull the cord. This deeply flawed risk assessment software means that every time engineers build a foolproof safety mechanism, humanity views it as an exciting challenge to discover a brand new, highly innovative way to injure themselves