经济学经典案例（经济学人）

2025-08-12 03:15:01 阅读 949 评论 0

摘要：《经济学人》：好心办坏事的公路案例？原文标题：Road safetyTruth killsShocking drivers with road-death statistics leads to more crashesA well-intentioned nudge backfires fatally[Paragraph 1]There have been 1,669 deaths on Texas roads this yearWhen Joshua Ma

《经济学人》：好心办坏事的公路案例？

原文标题：

Road safety

Truth kills

Shocking drivers with road-death statistics leads to more crashes

A well-intentioned nudge backfires fatally

[Paragraph 1]

There have been 1,669 deaths on Texas roads this year

When Joshua Madsen first saw a message like this displayed above the highway, he was confused. “It was very sobering,” he says, “but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.” He started noticing more messages: 28 states have displayed death tolls on electronic road signs, to encourage safe driving. But in a recent paper published in Science, Mr Madsen and his colleague Jonathan Hall found that the messages actually increase the number of crashes.

[Paragraph 2]

The study focused on Texas, where the year’s cumulative death toll from road accidents was displayed on highway signs one week in four. The authors found that, between 2010 and 2017, there were more accidents in the weeks when death counts were shown. Most excess crashes happened in the kilometre after a sign, but for several kilometres there was still an elevated risk (see top chart). In the 10km after a message there was a 4.5% rise in accidents—some 2,600 extra crashes and 16 deaths each year in Texas.

[Paragraph 3]

The authors think that the sombre messages may be distracting drivers. Busier sections of road that required drivers to pay the most attention had the biggest proportional increase in crashes. The effect of the signs also depended on how shocking the figures were. Early in the year, when the total death count was low, there were fewer crashes in weeks with messages. But the signs had a far more negative impact as the number of deaths ticked up (see bottom chart). The study highlights how seemingly innocuous “nudges”, used by governments to try to change behaviour, can backfire.

[Paragraph 4]

Luckily America’s government has given a nudge of its own. Last year the Federal Highway Administration released a memo clarifying that it was inappropriate to use electronic highway signs to display death tolls. There was no safety in numbers.

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量约396左右）

原文出自：2022年6月18日《The Economist》United States版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理：Fei Min

本文编辑校对: Irene仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）

美国联邦公路局是指美国负责公路规划、建设、安全、运输管理的政府机构。隶属1967年成立的运输部，总部设于华盛顿。主要工作包括道路的设计、修建和养护，交通政策与规划，交通安全，管理，环保，资金，土地征用，课题研究等八项。管理范围为：颁布规范，促进实现计划目标。管理政府资助的公路项目。与政府有关部门合作，进行桥梁检测与施工监理。运输企业的交通安全。

【重点句子】（3个）

The authors think that the sombre messages may be distracting drivers.

研究人员发现，路牌上这些严肃的内容会让司机分心。

The effect of the signs also depended on how shocking the figures were.

路牌导致的车祸程度也与死亡人数的多少有关。

There was no safety in numbers.

道路安全不是靠这些数字维系的。