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Safety for whom? The effects of light trucks on traffic fatalities

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  • Anderson, Michael

Abstract

Light trucks have doubled their share of the vehicle fleet from 1980 to 2004. This paper examines the effects of this increase on traffic safety, combining estimates from a state-level panel data set with an accident-level micro-data set. The results suggest that a one-percentage point increase in light truck share raises annual traffic fatalities by 0.34%, or 143 deaths per year. Of this increase, approximately one-fifth accrue to the light trucks' own occupants, and the remaining four-fifths accrue to the occupants of other vehicles and pedestrians. Using standard value of life figures, the implied Pigovian tax is approximately 3850 dollars per light truck sold. Overall, light trucks pose a significant hazard to other users of the highway system but on average provide no additional protection to their own occupants.

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  • Anderson, Michael, 2008. "Safety for whom? The effects of light trucks on traffic fatalities," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt1mb4m7qz, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt1mb4m7qz
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    4. Tyndall, Justin, 2021. "Pedestrian deaths and large vehicles," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 26.
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    6. Oster, Clinton V. & Strong, John S., 2013. "Analyzing road safety in the United States," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 98-111.
    7. Castillo-Manzano, José I. & Castro-Nuño, Mercedes & Fageda, Xavier, 2016. "Exploring the relationship between truck load capacity and traffic accidents in the European Union," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 94-109.
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    9. Nehiba, Cody & Tyndall, Justin, 2023. "Highways and pedestrian deaths in US neighborhoods," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    10. Michael L. Anderson & Maximilian Auffhammer, 2014. "Pounds That Kill: The External Costs of Vehicle Weight," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 535-571.
    11. Tscharaktschiew, Stefan, 2016. "The private (unnoticed) welfare cost of highway speeding behavior from time saving misperceptions," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 7, pages 24-37.
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    15. Peter Wells & Malcolm J Beynon, 2011. "Corruption, Automobility Cultures, and Road Traffic Deaths: The Perfect Storm in Rapidly Motorizing Countries?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(10), pages 2492-2503, October.
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    19. Nehiba, Cody, 2020. "Taxed to death? Freight truck collision externalities and diesel taxes," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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