Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes

Austin Smith

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2016, vol. 8, issue 2, 65-91

Abstract: Daylight Saving Time (DST) impacts over 1.5 billion people, yet many of its impacts on practicing populations remain uncertain. Exploiting the discrete nature of DST transitions and a 2007 policy change, I estimate the impact of DST on fatal automobile crashes. My results imply that from 2002-2011 the transition into DST caused over 30 deaths at a social cost of $275 million annually. Employing four tests to decompose the aggregate effect into an ambient light or sleep mechanism, I find that shifting ambient light only reallocates fatalities within a day, while sleep deprivation caused by the spring transition increases risk. (JEL I12, Q48, R41)

JEL-codes: I12 Q48 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20140100
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (75)

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