 Safety first? The effect of studded tyres on traffic accidents and local air pollutionLana Krehic Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2023, vol. 121, issue C Abstract: This paper offers empirical insights into the trade-off between local air pollution and traffic accidents by exploiting an annual studded tyre ban in Norway. Studded tyres offer superior traction on icy roads, but also contribute to harmful particulate matter pollution. The use of studs is therefore restricted to certain dates which, due to its dependence on Easter, can differ by over a month from one year to another. I exploit this variation in a type of regression discontinuity in time design. The findings suggest that the use of studded tyres does not decrease the number of traffic accidents. Moreover, there is no evidence that studded tyres increase particulate matter pollution. As studded tyres increases road wear and tear and appears to not contribute to road safety, this paper raises the question of whether North-American and European countries where studded tyres are widely used should revisit their traffic safety policies. Keywords: Traffic accidents; Pollution; Regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623000694 DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102851 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Environmental Economics and Management is currently edited by M.A. Cole, A. Lange, D.J. Phaneuf, D. Popp, M.J. Roberts, M.D. Smith, C. Timmins, Q. Weninger and A.J. Yates More articles in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.