What is risk compensation in response to policy changes and provide an example?

• A. People take more risks when looking for harsher penalties.
• B. Policies always reduce risk.
• C. It is a concept in engineering not public health.
• D. People adjust behavior to perceived safety improvements, potentially offsetting benefits; example: safer injection sites may lead to more leniency in drug use.

Answer: (D)

Risk compensation is the tendency for people to adjust their behavior in response to a perceived reduction in risk brought by a policy or safety feature, so the overall risk may not drop as much as hoped. For example, when safer injection sites are introduced to reduce harm, users might feel protected and engage in riskier injection practices or be less cautious overall, which can offset some of the benefits. This concept shows why simply improving safety doesn’t always translate into proportional harm reduction.