Judging Analytical Acceptability—Five Criteria

Are Overall Benefits and Costs Considered Exemplary benefit-cost analysis, which incorporates human factors, can be helpfiil in measiuwg the overall tradeoff between safety which may accompany passive restraints and 

Are Nonpecuniary, Nongovernmental Costs Considered A common imperfection in regulatory decisions is the failure to include all real, sodal economic costs in benefit-cost analysis and in studies of motorist behavior. There is a penchant for x)unting highly visible monetary costs. Implicit user costs in the form of dis X)mfort or disutility costs would accompany passive seat belts for some motorists. To these costs time and incx)nvenience costs would be added in analysis of a policy which requires use of manual seat belts. Inclusion of nonpecuniary costs in analysis of passive seat belts would explain why some 

Instead of rescission, NHTSA chose to issue a rule which is an amalgam of previous rules and new proposals—something old and something new.  

The new passive restraints rule requires automatic occupant protection in the front outboard positions in all passenger automobiles by September 1, 1989, with a phased-in schedule be nning on September 1,1986. The phase-in schedule requires an increasing share of the cars manufactured for sale in the U. S. to have passive restraints as follows 10 percent of all cars manufactured after September 1,1986,25 percent of all cars manufactured after September 1, 1987, 40 percent of all cars manufactured after September 1, 1988, and 100 percent of all cars manufactured after September 1,1989. 

Another new feature of the occupant protection rule is the encouragement of mandatory seat belt use laws. The incentive is possible rescission of the passive restraints requirement. Rescission is promised if acceptable seat belt use laws are passed by a sufficient number of states such that 2/3 of the U. S. population is covered. A state seat belt use law will be acceptable if it meets certain mteria including a fine of at least 25 for each occupant who does not 

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