STUDY: WARNING SIGNS ABOUT TRAFFIC DEATHS ACTUALLY INCREASE CRASHES

According to a new study published this week in Science, putting up signs on highways that tell drivers what the traffic death toll has been actually leads to an increase in crashes. The study used Texas to study the impact of safety messages on highway safety. Electronic highway signs were programmed to display updates on traffic deaths in Texas. Researchers then looked at the number of crashes “downstream” of the signs. The results are opposite what you’d think. Crashes increased downstream of electronic signs during the weeks that the signs displayed updates on traffic deaths. In fact, the crashes increased along stretches that had multiple electronic signs. The overall increase in crashes was not large, but it was statistically significant: Displaying road death information increased crashes by 4.5% over the following 6 miles of road. This has caused an extra 2,600 crashes a year in Texas since the practice began in 2012, at the cost of 16 deaths. The effect was persistent across the five years analyzed (2012-2017).
* This explains a lot in Texas. An awful lot.
* Who’s sponsoring these electronic signs? Auto repair shops?
* Maybe Texas drivers see the number of traffic deaths and figure, “Well, they’ve already reached their quota, so I’m safe.”
* The Governor of Texas must have one of these signs above his desk. It’s a constant reminder to “just do the opposite.”
* Maybe if they put up more signs, enough people will be eliminated to make the traffic thin out.