… at “Offsetting Behaviour (because pedestrians matter too)”. As Canadian as the fish they open for you right at the table in that brand-new Canadian restaurant on Fifth Avenue. 
And spot the header image and give me a ring if you understand what message it is supposed to convey. — UPDATE: See the comments.
Best wishes to Eric for his new blog.
The header image is apparently an anti-airbag device. Whereas injury-reducing apparatus would incent us to drive less safely, this head spike would seem to offset that (perverse) incentive.
OK, I get it. It cajoles drivers into driving safer. OK. Thanks. Happy Eastern, by the way.
Just in time for a fresh comment:
http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/how-safety-promotes-risk/?hp
Exactly as Caveat has said. In economics, the idea that safety equipment can promote risky behavior (a natural, but perhaps counterintuitive result) is known as the “Peltzman Effect”, for Chicago economist Sam Peltzman.
See Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Peltzman
At George Mason University, where Crampton got his PhD, the particular “spike on a steering column” image is associated with professor Gordon Tullock. See Michael Munger’s post on “Tullockania”:
http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/000558.php
Wow, thanks Mike. We need a diploma in economics to understand what the image posted by an economist on his little blog. That tells a lot about how economists are cut off from the mainstream population.
Thanks for the post! Michael’s nailed it. In fact, my son’s middle name is Tullock. Susan insisted that Tullock was not suitable as a first name. When I tell my students of the Pantheon of the Econ-Gods, Tullock sits at the top of Olympus, hurling thunderbolts at all who displease him.
I avoided parking near Gordon at the Public Choice Center, or at least tried to. His car clearly had too much safety equipment, as judged by the number of scrapes and dents on it.