Public Health Policies: Mandatory Use of Child Car Seats

Public Health Policy
Name
Institution
Public Health Policy
Good public health policy is formulated based on existing evidence that such a policy will improve the health of the public and further protect the public from a possible threat. As such, I believe that a mandatory child car seat requirement is a good public health policy. This is based partly on the existing evidence, such as the one provided by the Ray LaHood. In addition, Jones and Ziebarth (2016) posit that quite a number of public health and other medical studies provide sufficient evidence that car seats significantly reduce injury and deaths, yet other studies from an economic perspective, such as the one by Steven Levitt, reveal a statistically insignificant effect while some are inconclusive. Yet, the main focus should not be whether the effect is statistically significant but rather on the fact that car seats have some effect in reducing fatalities, even if it is by chance. Further, it is hard to put a price on life.
Balancing a good public health policy with individual behavior or requirements on automobile manufactures requires a focus on the role that each plays in enhancing child safety on the roads. In my opinion, individual behavior should take precedence because failure to focus on individ...