Oh, and the value was established at $2 million in 1991 :-)

The value of a statistical life is an attempt at "how much do we pay to prevent one death?".

An important tool in the kit when finite resources are being dished out. There is weirdness though, when people might be willing to spend more to prevent road deaths than house fire deaths. Also probably suffers a degree of ad-hoc adjustment.

Interesting piece at The Wireless raises more questions. Quote:

No matter how unpalatable we might find it, people place a hypothetical value on things all the time. If you decide to jaywalk, or to drive at 110km/h, you’ve weighed up the increased risk against the time saved from walking to the nearest crossing or keeping to the speed limit. It’s a cost-benefit analysis like any other; equating time with money is just an adage away.

One more!

Sunset behind the Waitakeres.