The Deterrent Effect of Targeted and Salient Police Enforcement: Evidence from Bans on Checkpoints for Driving under the Influence

Kyutaro Matsuzawa

Journal of Law and Economics, 2025, vol. 68, issue 2, 311 - 360

Abstract: I estimate the causal effect of checkpoints for driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol (DUI) on traffic fatalities, DUI arrests, and self-reported incidents of DUI. Exploiting quasi-random variation in state-level laws that ban checkpoints for DUI, I find a 12.4 percent increase in DUI-related traffic fatalities within the first 5 years following a DUI checkpoint ban. I also find a persistent increase in DUI arrests and a short-run increase in self-reported DUI behavior. Together, these findings suggest that targeted, salient police enforcement has a general deterrent effect on dangerous driving. Furthermore, back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that a federal ban on DUI checkpoints would lead to an annual cost of approximately $6.4 billion in terms of lives lost from DUI incidents.

Date: 2025
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