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Fuel prices and road accident outcomes in New Zealand

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  • Rohan Best
  • Paul J. Burke

Abstract

Recent years have seen a spike in New Zealand’s road death toll, a phenomenon also seen in some other countries such as Australia. This paper analyses the short-run impact of fuel prices on road accident outcomes in New Zealand, including the numbers of road deaths, accidents, and injuries. Using data for the period 1989–2017, we find a negative relationship between fuel prices and key road-risk outcome variables, including the number of road deaths. There are similar results for models in levels and first differences. The number of serious injuries to cyclists tends to increase when fuel prices are high, however. Lower fuel prices appear to have contributed to New Zealand’s recent uptick in road accidents, pushing against the long-term trend of improved road safety.

Suggested Citation

  • Rohan Best & Paul J. Burke, 2018. "Fuel prices and road accident outcomes in New Zealand," CAMA Working Papers 2018-57, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:een:camaaa:2018-57
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    File URL: https://cama.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/cama_crawford_anu_edu_au/2018-11/57_2018_best_burke.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Tong & Burke, Paul J., 2020. "The effect of fuel prices on traffic flows: Evidence from New South Wales," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 502-522.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fuel price; road accident death; road accident injury;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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