Drunk Driving Legislation and Traffic Fatalities: New Evidence on BAC 08 Laws
16 Pages Posted: 21 Jun 2007
Abstract
This article reexamines the effectiveness of blood alcohol content (BAC) laws in reducing traffic fatalities. Differences-in-differences estimators of U.S. state-level data with standard errors corrected for autocorrelation show no evidence that lowering the BAC limits to 0.08 g/dL reduced fatality rates, either in total or in crashes likely to be alcohol related, or in states that passed BAC 08 in laws either in advance of or in response to federal pressure. Other legislations, including administrative license revocation and primary seat belt laws, are found effective in reducing fatalities in all specifications. Endogeneity tests using event analyses confirm the differences-in-differences estimates.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Does the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Save Lives?
By Jeffrey A. Miron and Elina Tetelbaum
-
Does the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Save Lives?
By Jeffrey A. Miron and Elina Tetelbaum
-
Minimum Drinking Age Laws and Infant Health Outcomes
By Tara Watson and Angela R. Fertig
-
Does Drinking Impair College Performance? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Approach
By Scott E. Carrell, Mark Hoekstra, ...
-
Does Drinking Impair College Performance? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Approach
By Scott E. Carrell, Mark Hoekstra, ...
-
Long Term Effects of Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws on Adult Alcohol Use and Driving Fatalities
By Robert Kaestner and Ben Yarnoff
-
Understanding the Decline in Drinking and Driving During 'The Other Great Moderation'