Abstract
In this article, the authors examine the rationale for willingness-to-pay based monetary values of safety. Then the ways of estimating financial values (revealed preference, contingent valuation) are discussed. Since 1988 the DETR has used a value for the prevention of a road accident fatality based on the willingness-to-pay methodology. The value, currently £848,000 in 1996 prices is an update of a consensus figure arrived at in 1988 following research by several organisations. A project to examine the sensitivity of the data has been undertaken by the DETR, Health and Safety Executive, Home Office and Treasury. This research is reported here.