[jasoncrawford]

I think regulations can work when they enforce very well-supported, long-established best practices, such that if you don't do them it amounts to negligence.

They might also work better if they say “you can't do it that way, which is known to be unsafe,” as opposed to “you must do it this way, which is the only safe thing.”

Note also that regulatory standards are not the only mechanism in the law to create safety. Liability law can be very effective at creating safety, by giving the right incentives to the right parties, but liability law doesn't tell anyone what to do—only what will happen to you if you cause harm.

[hgsgm]

Companies are very good at making slight changes to bad ideas and calling them "new ideas". The plastics industry runs on this.