Are people in developing countries willing to give up environmental quality and safety for affordable transportation?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

An interesting article in today's New York Times on the trade-offs between development and regulation--perhaps an example of the environmental Kuznets curve at work?

Tata Motors in India is revealing a mass-produced $2,500 car. Many of the cost cutting measures used to produce and sell the car come at the expense of safety and environmental considerations.

The upside is a car expected to retail for as little as the equivalent of $2,500, or about the price of the optional DVD player on the Lexus LX 470 sport utility vehicle.

The downside is a car that would most likely fail emission and safety standards on any Western road, and, perhaps, in India in a few years, when the country imposes tougher environmental standards.

[...]

Critics of the Tata car have asked how a car that prunes thousands of dollars off regular prices can possibly comply with safety and environmental norms. The answer may be that the car comes at a particular moment in India’s development, when the country is affluent enough to support strong demand for automobiles but still less regulated than developed countries.

http://www.env-econ.net/2008/01/are-countries-w.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I've been a person in a developing country. I know lots of people in a developing country. The answer is yes and no. Environmental concerns tend to be things more affluent societies worry about. The lower middle class in India simply does not, because it can not. It hasn't that luxury. Safety? Totally different issue. You bet safety matters. If too many kids die on the People's Car, some Tata executive will die. Street justice is real in that part of the world, especially if you're a rich guy messing with the kids of "the masses" (the lower middle, the poor).

[Dan J 277]

An interesting article in today's New York Times on the trade-offs between development and regulation--perhaps an example of the environmental Kuznets curve at work?

Tata Motors in India is revealing a mass-produced $2,500 car. Many of the cost cutting measures used to produce and sell the car come at the expense of safety and environmental considerations.

The upside is a car expected to retail for as little as the equivalent of $2,500, or about the price of the optional DVD player on the Lexus LX 470 sport utility vehicle.

The downside is a car that would most likely fail emission and safety standards on any Western road, and, perhaps, in India in a few years, when the country imposes tougher environmental standards.

[...]

Critics of the Tata car have asked how a car that prunes thousands of dollars off regular prices can possibly comply with safety and environmental norms. The answer may be that the car comes at a particular moment in India’s development, when the country is affluent enough to support strong demand for automobiles but still less regulated than developed countries.

http://www.env-econ.net/2008/01/are-countries-w.html

It may not be as safe to western standards, but it may be safer than it is right now to drive around on motorcycles. But then who knows.

I would be worried about the environmental impact though, especially in a country with so many people. But then we don't really set a good example, when we have almost as many cars as people.

[HAL 9000 96]

" But then we don't really set a good example, when we have almost as many cars as people. "

Or when the kind of cars we like to drive pollute probably as much as three times what this purported People's Car will pollute. Still, a very, very bad idea.