ABSTRACT
The Ford Pinto gasoline tank trial in Indiana, the DC-10 cargo door and engine mount problems, the Bay Area Rapid Transit control system failure, the Goodrich A7D aircraft brake case, the disposal of toxic wastes in the Love Canal area, and problems at the Three Mile Island nuclear energy plant have all given rise to numerous discussions and published articles regarding the ethical and philosophical aspects of engineering practice. The highway safety engineer could try to avoid facing certain moral dilemmas by rationalizing that the budget is not large enough to cover all projects that could be justified on a safety basis, or that the appropriate amount for safety improvement projects has already been established by a higher administrative level, and all that can be done is to implement the "best" project until those funds are exhausted. There are a number of ways in which "society" has expressed that certain trade-offs with highway safety are acceptable.
