Mandatory Helmet Use and the Severity of Motorcycle Accidents: No Brainer?†

Magdalena Blanco (), José María Cabrera, Felipe Carozzi and Alejandro Cid ()

No 1906, Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers from Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo.

Abstract: We study the impact of mandatory motorcycle helmet use laws on the severity and volume of road accidents in Uruguay by exploiting a change in the enforcement of the traffic law. Using event-study, differences-in-difference and synthetic control methods, we report a sharp increase in helmet use and a 40 percent reduction in the incidence of serious or fatal motorcyclist accidents. We find no evidence of other behavioral responses in terms of either the volume or type of accidents. We show that additional costs of enforcement for the relevant government agencies were negligible and estimate the health benefits of the policy.

Keywords: Law Enforcement; Safety and Accidents; Helmet Use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H89 I12 I18 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-lam and nep-tre
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https://www2.um.edu.uy/fcee_papers/2019/Mandatory_ ... dents_No_Brainer.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Mandatory Helmet Use and the Severity of Motorcycle Accidents: No Brainer? (2020)
Working Paper: Effects of Motorcycle Helmet Laws on Fatalities’ Prevention: An Impact Evaluation (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mnt:wpaper:1906

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