Road safety as an outcome is politically desirable. Politicians are prepared to invest resources in it A traditional measure of road safety is the number of accidental deaths on the roads. But there are a number of outputs that can contribute to achieving the desired outcome including more police patrols improved road design and highway signage the regulation control of drinking and drinking better hospital treatment for accident victims and so on. The notion allows for consideration of the contestability of a whole range of otherwise unrelated activities in seeking to attain a particular outcome that politicians have decided is a political priority