In most developed countries, laws that prohibit texting-while-driving (TWD) have been enacted. Hambara and Associates, a systems engineering consulting company, has won the contract to assist the Callaghan Police Department in implementing projects that will have a zero-tolerance policy for TWD, with the expressed goal to not increase the average number of violation tickets issued per month. This is a highly publicized goal because the Police Chief is keenly aware of the public€™s negativity toward police officers as they issue tickets for any violation, especially for TWD. Assume that you work for Hambara and have been identified as the lead project engineer on the Callaghan contract. Immediately, you recognize this as a public planning effort, since Hambara will be responsible for developing and implementing projects. You will be meeting the other four members of the Hambara team and two assigned liaison officers from the Callaghan Police Department tomorrow morning. They expect you to present a general overview of your approach to the project.

Because of the sensitivity of the public, the Chief€™s announced goal of no increase in ticketing, and your own concerns about possible ethical dimensions within the police department and your own Hambara team members, you need some structure to understand any ethical considerations that may arise in the future. Use the format of Table 9€“5, especially the dimensions suggested in the leftmost column, to identify for yourself the ethical considerations of this project. This material will likely not be shared directly at the initial meeting of the group.

Table 9-5

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Ethlcal Dimension What the Study Includes Example Is it ethical to select a specific group of people affected by the project and neglect possible effects on other groups? Audience for study Construct children's health care clinics for city dwellers, but neglect rural fami- lies with poor transportation means. Is it ethical to decide now for fu- ture generations who may be ad- versely and economically affected by the current project decision? Impact time of decision Accomplish financial bailouts of corpo- rations when future generations' taxes will be significantly higher to recover the costs, plus interest and inflation effects. Vulnerable minority groups, es- pecially economically deprived ones, may be disproportionally Greater good for com- munity as a whole Allow a chemical plant that is vital to the community's employment to pollute a waterway when a minority group is affected. Is this ethical if the im- known to eat fish from the water that is predictably contaminated. pact is predictable? Is it acceptable to reduce all costs and benefits to monetary estimates for a decision, then Reliance on economic Softening of building codes can im- prove the financial outlook for home builders; however, increased risks of fire loss, storm and water damage to structures, and reduced future resale measures only subjectively impute nonquanti- fied factors in the final decision? values are considered only in passing as a new subdivision is approved by the planning and zoning committee. Scope of disbenefits esti- Is it ethical to disregard any dis- benefits in the B/C study or use Noise and air pollution caused by a planned open-pit quarry will have a neg- ative effect on area ranchers, residents, mated and evaluated indirect effectiveness measures in a CEA study based on the dif- ficulty to estimate some of them? wildlife, and plant life; but the effective- ness measure considers only suburban residents due to estimation difficulty of effects on other constituencies.