Safety laws can backfire when drivers just take more risks

Economist Sam Peltzman found that seatbelt and airbag mandates often failed to cut total road deaths, because drivers who felt safer drove faster and more recklessly. The risk wasn't eliminated, just shifted onto pedestrians and cyclists outside the protected car. This 'risk compensation' effect shows why safety mandates alone don't guarantee safer outcomes.

— Sam Peltzman, The Effects of Automobile Safety Regulation — Journal of Political Economy, 1975