Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Many deaths that occur during events such as flooding, fires, hurricanes and mudslides, could be prevented by leaving vulnerable areas, but people don’t always move, even after receiving evacuation orders or warnings of imminent risk. To understand why, the authors worked with Facebook to understand evacuation patterns based on the structure of people’s social networks before, during and after hurricanes. We found that social networks, especially connections to those beyond immediate family, influence decisions to leave or stay in place before disasters.

Highway engineers sometimes believe that if they redesign streets to improve pedestrian safety (for example, by introducing traffic calming techniques) they might be successfully sued for negligent design by motorists. This chapter suggests that in such situations, governments are likely to be protected by discretionary function immunity. In addition, the chapter discusses a variety of technical issues.