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Italian “Homicide Road Law”: Evidence of a Puzzle?

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  • Marcello Basili
  • Filippo Belloc

Abstract

We analyse the effectiveness of Law 41/2016 (the so-called “homicide road law”), introduced in Italy in 2016 with the aim of reducing dangerous driving on Italian roads, through a system of escalating sanctioning, where the severity of the punishment is based on the type of injury caused by the road accident. We first explore theoretically the two-sided effect of Law 41/2016, in terms of general and marginal deterrence. Then, we exploit micro-data on the entire universe of road accidents in Italy in the period before and after Law 41/2016 and measure its effectiveness in reducing the number of fatal outcomes. The estimation results unveil that, after the introduction of Law 41/2016, both the extensive and the intensive margin of deaths in road accidents was not reduced, while, if anything, a weakly significant increase is observed in the extensive margin. The study may contribute to the optimal design of driving regulation both in Italy and in other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcello Basili & Filippo Belloc, 2018. "Italian “Homicide Road Law”: Evidence of a Puzzle?," Department of Economics University of Siena 781, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    • Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:781
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    File URL: http://repec.deps.unisi.it/quaderni/781.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Homicide Road Law; Vertical Deterrence; Marginal Deterrence; Escalating Penalties; Hybrid Sanctions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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