It is important to note that transportation safety and security regulations have their advantages and disadvantages, which can be reflected not only in cases of fatalities and injuries but also costs incurred and the effectiveness of their implementations. The most evident advantage of such regulatory practices is safety and security increase, which means that both transportation users and nearby individuals are safer due to certain measures imposed on users and providers. In other words, people are less likely to get hurt or killed due to negligence from users and providers since the regulations outline severe consequences for non-adherence.
Another major advantage of such regulations on safety and transportation is an environmental one. Transportation, such as automobiles, which utilize fossil fuels, are more significant contributors to environmental pollution, which is why a stricter set of measures on users and providers can improve the overall environmental metrics by discouraging the use of highly resource inefficient modes of transportation and mandating the providers to design more environmentally-friendly alternative solutions.
Moreover, transportation safety and security regulations act as a counterbalance for profit-driven organizations usually represented by providers, where the latter is restricted to significantly undermine the general safety to gain additional profits. These regulatory frameworks prevent unethical or unsafe practices of transportation provision, and they also ensure that users are not using insecure modes of transportation. Lastly, transportation safety and security regulations protect the lives and health of those who are not participating in transportation use or not using many modes of transportation, such as pedestrians or bystanders.
In the case of disadvantages, these can be manifested in economic costs and procedural burdens imposed on both the users and providers. The first disadvantage emerges when the regulations are not based on solid and reliable evidence, where costs imposed on organizations or individuals are not justified by the safety improvements. For example, research finds that there are “differences in the cost per expected fatality prevented for these reactions, with the airline accident investigations being more cost effective. Overall, we observe trends in both the automotive and aviation sectors that suggest that public transportation receives more regulatory attention than private transport” (Waycaster et al., 2017, p. 1085).
In other words, certain modes of transportation are regulated more effectively and efficiently than others, and thus, cost effectiveness evaluations might reveal that an excessive degree of burden might be hindering an organization, sector, or even an entire economy.
Furthermore, the second disadvantage of transportation safety and security regulations is rooted in the fact that they hinder market freedom and the availability of a wider range of products or vehicles available to consumers. In other words, it is a direct form of market regulation, where both users and providers are forced to comply with certain protocols to operate legally.
The last and most evident disadvantage of transportation safety and security regulations is manifested in costs incurred on both users and providers. The latter is mandated to integrate additional features and measures to improve the overall safety metrics of a vehicle, whereas such practices are justified in the majority of cases, and in other situations, it might be hindering the overall operational profitability and manufacturing efficiency. The regulatory institutions developing and enforcing these regulations might be requiring an excessive amount of resources with little to no impact on safety and security metrics within a state or nation.
There can be some degree of cost opportunity imposed by funding such organizations without proper evaluative practices, where the performance of such regulations might not be justifying the costs, where these resources could have been allocated to infrastructure improvements, which also can increase safety.
Reference
Waycaster, G. C., Matsumura, T., Bilotkach, V., Haftka, R. T., & Kim, N. H. (2017). Review of regulatory emphasis on transportation safety in the United States, 2002-2009: Public versus private modes. Risk Analysis, 38(5), 1085–1101. Web.