Death by Pokémon GO: The Economic and Human Cost of Using Apps While Driving

Mara Faccio () and John J. McConnell

No 24308, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Using police accident reports for Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and exploiting the introduction of the augmented reality game Pokémon GO as a natural experiment, we document a disproportionate increase in crashes and associated vehicular damage, injuries, and fatalities in the vicinity of locations where users can play the game while driving. We estimate the incremental county-wide cost of users playing Pokémon GO while driving to be in the range of $5.2 to $25.5 million over the 148 days following the introduction of the game. Extrapolating these estimates to nation-wide levels yields a total ranging from $2.0 to $7.3 billion.

JEL-codes: O33 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-tre and nep-ure
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Published as Mara Faccio & John J. McConnell, 2020. "Death by Pokémon GO: The Economic and Human Cost of Using Apps While Driving," Journal of Risk and Insurance, vol 87(3), pages 815-849.

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