Did the Great Recession keep bad drivers off the road?

Vikram Maheshri and Clifford Winston

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 2016, vol. 52, issue 3, No 4, 255-280

Abstract: Abstract Motorists’ fatalities and the fatality rate (roadway deaths per vehicle-mile traveled (VMT)) tend to decrease during recessions. Using a novel data set of individual drivers, we establish that recessions have differential impacts on driving behavior by decreasing the VMT of observably risky drivers, such as those over age 60, and by increasing the VMT of observably safer drivers. The compositional shift toward safer drivers associated with a one percentage point increase in unemployment would save nearly 5000 lives per year nationwide. This finding suggests that policymakers could generate large benefits by targeting new driver-assistance technology at vulnerable groups.

Keywords: Automobile safety; Motorists’ fatalities; Risky drivers; Vehicle miles traveled; Autonomous vehicles; I1; R4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11166-016-9239-6

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