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How highway safety regulations and enforcement activities affect subcategories of motor vehicle fatalities
Abstract
This paper uses seemingly unrelated regression analysis and annual Ohio data for 1975–2000 to estimate a model for six different types of motor vehicle fatalities: car occupants, light truck occupants, large truck occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and pedalcyclists. It finds that while certain government highway safety regulations (e.g., speed limits) and enforcement activities (e.g., drunk driving arrests) have life-saving effects, not all groups are beneficiaries.
... In addition, Carson (2011) points out that this literature represents a mixture of statistical papers and institutional reports based on different sources, models and methodologies that provide contradictory conclusions. Moreover, since the well-known TRB study (1990), most of studies on the topic have referred to the U.S. (af Wåhlberg, 2008;Braver et al., 1997;Khorashadi et al., 2005;Welki and Zlatoper, 2009, among many others), or discuss the safety of only one truck size category, mainly large and heavy trucks (Anderson and Auffhammer, 2014;Lemp et al., 2011;Zhu and Srinivasan, 2011). ...
... For example, heavy trucks are mainly used for inter-urban trips (Kanaroglou and Buliung, 2008) and as af Wåhlberg (2008) highlights may have an advantage from circulating on better and safer roads (highways). Moreover, according to Cantor et al. (2008), Corsi et al. (2012, Huang et al. (2008) and Welki and Zlatoper (2009), the implementation of the latest safety technologies, specific safety regulations and performance measures for heavy vehicles means that they are more resistant, due to their superior dynamic stability and control. In addition, as Lemp et al. (2011) state, one heavy truck may replace several light trucks, meaning that if heavy trucks are used, fewer truck trips are required to haul any given volume of freight (lower risk exposure). ...
... Other studies analyze factors that also contribute to higher accident risk for light trucks compared to heavy trucks. For example, the number of light trucks has grown considerably in recent years (Welki and Zlatoper, 2009). Certain authors even conclude that the behavior and qualification levels of drivers in these two truck categories are different. ...
Applying econometric techniques to EU28 panel data and controlling for explanatory variables such as road types, we find that increased truck load capacity does not necessarily aggravate road traffic safety. Specifically, heavy trucks do not seem to be linked with greater numbers of traffic fatalities/accidents, medium trucks appear to be the worst performers in terms of fatalities, and light trucks seem to be the worst for accidents. In summary, our results clarify the complex relationship between truck load capacity and road safety, pointing to the existence of a negative correlation for accidents per capita and an inverse U-shaped curve for fatalities per capita.
... Broughton et al. [7] found that riders who ride at unsafe high speed will have higher crash probability. Furthermore, a study also showed that greater proportions of both young and elderly drivers lead to higher death rates [8]. Accidents statistics also proved that young drivers have significantly higher accident violation rates than older drivers. ...
... Charles et al. 's [11] study shows that young drivers have significantly higher accident violation rates than older drivers. In short, many previous studies have proved that young riders seem to expose more in the motorcycle crash [6,[8][9][10][11][12]. ...
This paper focuses on the study of the change of various types of riding behaviour, such as speed, brake force, and throttle force applied, when they ride across the speed table. An instrumented motorcycle equipped with various types of sensor, on-board camera, and data logger was used in acquiring the traffic data in the research. Riders were instructed to ride across two speed tables and the riding data were then analyzed to study the behaviour change from different riders. The results from statistical analysis showed that the riding characteristics such as speed, brake force, and throttle force applied are influenced by distance from hump, riding experience, and travel mileage of riders. Riders tend to apply higher brake intensity at distance point 50 m before the speed table and release the braking at point -10 m after the hump. In short, speed table has different rates of influence towards riding behaviour on different factors, such as distance from hump and different riders' attributes.
... Research on the crash risk of motorcyclists has investigated a variety of issues, such as rider attributes, motorcycle characteristics, roadway, environmental and traffic factors, and overexposure of motorcycles at intersections [11]. Various studies showed that age [12][13][14][15][16], riding manner such as speeding [10,[17][18][19], traffic road environment [20][21][22][23], gender [9], and ride experience [8] were among the reasons involving motorcycles in accidents. According to Yeh and Chang [24], The Scientific World Journal motorcycle riders have an increased likelihood of accidents compared with other motor vehicle drivers. ...
... Broughton et al. [17] found that riders who ride at unsafe high speed will have a higher crash probability. Furthermore, a study also showed that greater proportions of both young and elderly drivers have led to higher death rates [14]. Accident statistics also proved that young drivers have significantly higher accident violation rates than older drivers. ...
This paper details the study on the changes in riding behaviour, such as changes in speed as well as the brake force and throttle force applied, when motorcyclists ride over a curve section road using an instrumented motorcycle. In this study, an instrumented motorcycle equipped with various types of sensors, on-board cameras, and data loggers, was developed in order to collect the riding data on the study site. Results from the statistical analysis showed that riding characteristics, such as changes in speed, brake force, and throttle force applied, are influenced by the distance from the curve entry, riding experience, and travel mileage of the riders. A structural equation modeling was used to study the impact of these variables on the change of riding behaviour in curve entry section. Four regression equations are formed to study the relationship between four dependent variables, which are speed, throttle force, front brake force, and rear brake force applied with the independent variables.
... However, a substantial body of research has shown that highway accidents are complex events that involve many other factors (Elvik, 2006), such as complex interactions between vehicles Dadashova et al., 2014;Roesel, 2017), environmental conditions (Amin et al., 2014;Bardal and Jørgensen, 2017), roadway characteristics (Lee and Mannering, 2002;Adler et al., 2013), road management (Albalate, 2011;Percoco, 2016), economic conditions (Kopits and Cropper, 2005), and government regulations (Welki and Zlatoper, 2009;Castillo-Manzano and Castro-Nuño, 2012;De Paola et al., 2013). ...
At the end of 2005, Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI) and the Italian traffic police progressively deployed along the Italian tolled motorway network an average speed enforcement system, named Safety Tutor, able to determine the average speed of vehicles over a long section to encourage drivers to comply with speed limits and improve safety. The aim of this study was to empirically test the extent to which Safety Tutor led to a reduction in both total and fatal accidents on Italian highways during the period of 2001–2017. To do so, we carried out a generalized difference-in-differences estimation using a unique panel dataset that exploits the heterogeneous accident data within all tolled motorway sectors in a quasi-experimental setting. To deal with the potential endogeneity of the non-random placement of Safety Tutor sites, we utilized an instrumental variable strategy by using the network of motorway sectors managed by ASPI and its controlled concessionaires from 2005 onwards (i.e., when the technology was available) as an instrument to predict Safety Tutor adoption. We found that a 10% increase in Safety Tutor coverage led to an average reduction in total accidents of 3.9%, whereas there is no evidence of a significant causal effect of Safety Tutor in reducing fatal accidents.
... Hand-held cellphone ban Lim and Chi (2013), Jacobson et al. (2012), Goodwin, O'Brien, and Foss (2012), Nikolaev, Robbins, and Jacobson (2010), McCartt, Hellinga, and Geary (2006), McCartt et al. (2010), Fowles, Loeb, and Clarke (2010), Welki and Zlatoper (2014), Sampaio (2014), and Kwon, Yoon, and Jang (2014) Text messaging ban Atchley, Atwood, and Boulton (2011), Ehsani et al. (2014), Hallett, Lambert, and Regan (2012), and Harrison (2011) Speed limit laws Weiki and Zlatoper (2007) and Welki and Zlatoper (2009) Impaired driving laws Li, Sze, and Wong (2014), Siskind (1996), Wagenaar and Maldonado-Molina (2007), , and Elder et al. (2011) Automated enforcement laws Elvik (1997), Gains et al. (2004), Mountain, Hirst, and Maher (2004), Mountain, Hirst, and Maher (2005), Retting, Kyrychenko, and McCartt (2008), Shin, Washington, and van Schalkwyk (2009), Tay (2010), Montella et al. (2012), and Delaney et al. (2005) Child passenger safety laws Arbogast et al. (2004), Decina and Lococo (2005), Elliott et al. (2006), Nakanara, Ichikawa, and Nakajima (2015), Decina, Temple, and Dorer (1994), Winston et al. (2007), and Winston et al. (2004) fixed penalties on traffic safety. The research findings did not provide sufficient evidence for the assumption that stricter penalties can reduce traffic violations, especially for the speeding behaviors. ...
Since highway safety laws vary greatly from state to state in the U.S., there is a need to analyze the effectiveness and performances of the implemented highway safety laws. The random-parameter zero-truncated negative binomial (RZTNB) models are proposed to analyze the effects of highway safety laws on fatal crashes at state levels. The results show that the proposed models are useful in describing the relationships between the fatal crashes and the explanatory variables with better goodness of fit. By accounting for the heterogeneities, the RZTNB model outperforms the negative binomial model and reveals new insights. The findings indicate that (1) compared to the secondary ban, the primary handheld cellphone ban is more effective; (2) establishing reasonable and acceptable speed limits can enhance the traffic safety; and (3) the implemented speed camera system and ignition interlock device have weaknesses and alternative methods should be considered when upgrading laws and regulations.
... According to Ove, accidents can be explained from the driver characteristics, such as gender, age and experience, and from the situational characteristics, such as accident situations, environmental factors, speed and vehicles. In short, many previous study have proved that young riders seems to be group of riders that tend to be more exposed in accident (Steg et al., 2009;Andrew et al., 2009). Due to this fact, something must be done to reduce the high rate of young riders involved in accident. ...
Motorcyclists are considered a very vulnerable group of road users as far as road accidents are concerned. Safety of this form of transportation is an important issue. This paper details the study on the changes in riding behaviour, such as changes in speed as well as brake force and throttle force applied, when motorcyclists ride over a curve section road using an instrumented motorcycle. In this study, an instrumented motorcycle equipped with various types of sensors, on-board cameras and data loggers, was developed in order to collect the riding data on the study site. Results from the statistical analysis showed that riding characteristics such as changes in speed, brake force and throttle force applied, are influenced by the distance from the curve entry, riding experience and travel mileage of the riders. A structural equation modeling was used to study the impact of these variables towards the change of riding behaviour in curve entry section. Three regression equations are formed to study the relationship between three dependent variables, which are speed, throttle force and brake force applied with the independent variables. In short, riders tend decelerate to achieve a comfortable speed, by applying higher brake intensity and release throttle force, when they ride closer to the curve section.
Rapid expansion of urbanization in developing countries such as China brings explosive growth of the construction industry. It is necessary to evaluate construction performance in terms of safety, in order for sustainable development maintaining the speed of construction production without compromising safety performance. This study presents a quantitative analysis of construction safety performance in three regions of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, which were selected for reforming and developing modern construction industry in China. The nonparametric method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) was employed for evaluating construction safety performance in these regions from 2003 to 2019, and construction safety performance of each year in each region was deemed a decision-making unit (DMU). It is found that these regions do not maintain the state of fully BCC-efficient after achieving the optimal ratio between inputs and outputs in construction safety management. In consideration of the severity of undesirable outcomes, the construction industry performs better in the avoidance of workplace fatalities than in the prevention of non-fatal accidents. Distinct patterns of input indicators (e.g. I1 and I2) and output indicators (e.g. O1, O2 and O3) during the period can give impetus to pooling their experience for cross reference among Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Additionally practical experience of these regions can be referred to by other developing countries, in order for the balance between construction safety performance and industrial development in the aspects of added-value of the construction industry, completed-area of building construction, and total number of employees in construction companies.
Drivers have been running an "arms race" on American roads by buying increasingly large vehicles such as sport utility vehicles and light trucks. But large vehicles pose an increased danger to occupants of smaller vehicles and to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. This paper measures both the internal effect of large vehicles on their own occupants' safety and their external effect on others. The results show that light trucks are extremely deadly. For each 1 million light trucks that replace cars, between 34 and 93 additional car occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists are killed per year, and the value of the lives lost is between 652 million per year. The safety gain that families obtain for themselves from driving large vehicles comes at a very high cost: for each fatal crash that occupants of large vehicles avoid, at least 4.3 additional fatal crashes involving others occur.
The effectiveness of safety regulation can be enhanced or offset by various forms of behavioral feedback. This study provides estimates of the effectiveness of motorcycle helmet laws in reducing fatalities based on pooled time-series and cross-sectional data for the United States during the years 1975 to 1984. Estimates from the model suggest that the presence of a helmet-wearing law induces a 12 to 22 percent decline in the motorcycle mortality problem. The results are consistent with the view that helmet laws are an effective public health policy, at least in the short run. However, there is also some evidence of gradual risk-compensation behavior: The immediate rise in fatalities following repeal of helmet laws appears to dissipate gradually at a rate of roughly 2.5 percent per year. This result suggests that future studies of safety regulation should consider longrun as well shortrun behavioral responses.
As motorcycles have become more popular over the last two decades, motorcycle related deaths have risen. Methods to reduce fatalities have originated in both the private and public sector. The most ambitious of the public sector attempts to promote safety were the helmet use laws. The empirical results of this study indicate a significant relationship between the lack of a helmet use law and an increase in the fatality rate. Although a rider may ride more carefully when not wearing a helmet, this study indicates that this care is offset by the lack of crash protection provided by a helmet. Thus, at least for the years 1976–1979, one cannot reject the hypothesis that motorcycle helmet use laws have saved lives.
This paper analyzes the influence of highway safety regulation enforcement efforts on motor vehicle fatalities. It estimates a regression model in which such deaths depend on these efforts as well as economic conditions, driver characteristics, government regulations, and locational factors, using 1973–2000 annual Ohio data. Statistically significant results indicate that the enforcement measure of drunk driving arrests saves lives. They also suggest that highway deaths increase with the following: better economic conditions, greater alcohol consumption, larger proportions of young and old drivers, higher speed limits, and more driving on rural roads. The trend in deaths is downward.
The role of deterrence in economics focuses primarily on changing the individual’s perceived
expected cost of engaging in an illegal activity and the primary impetus of deterrence in law
enforcement is to increase the perceived certainty of apprehension and punishment. Using
data from the Australian State of Queensland, this paper examined the deterrent effects
of increasing the level of police presence and the apprehension rate and found that
increasing either the number of random breath tests performed or the proportion of
drivers tested positive for drink driving significantly reduced the number of serious
crashes on the roads.
Technological studies imply that annual highway deaths would be 20 percent greater without legally mandated installation of various safety devices on automobiles. However, this literature ignores offsetting effects of nonregulatory demand for safety and driver response to the devices. This article indicates that these offsets are virtually complete, so that regulation has not decreased highway deaths. Time-series (but not cross-section) data imply some saving of auto occupants' lives at the expense of more pedestrian deaths and more nonfatal accidents, a pattern consistent with optimal driver response to regulation.
We employ panel data over a 22-year period to study the impact of state laws mandating helmet use by motorcyclists. We find that helmet laws are associated with an average 29-33 percent decrease in per capita motorcyclist fatalities. However, since voluntary helmet wearing rates are higher in harsher climates, the efficacy of helmet laws varies directly with the warmth of a state's climate. Repeal of helmet laws in the 1970s and subsequent re-adoption in the late 1980s and early 1990s have had roughly symmetrical effects on fatalities. Alcohol consumption and the number of police available to enforce traffic laws also significantly effect motorcyclist fatalities. Copyright 2000 by Kluwer Academic Publishers
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