Traffic accidents significantly dropped during COVID-19 lockdown, study
finds
Data shows billions of dollars of cost savings; suggests implications for remote work policies

Date:
March 7, 2022
Source:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Summary:
Research shows that traffic accidents decreased by nearly half
during the two-month period at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
when residents of most states were under a stay-at-home order.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that traffic
accidents decreased by nearly half during the two-month period at the
start of the COVID- 19 pandemic when residents of most states were under
a stay-at-home order.


========================================================================== Using a detailed data set from the Louisiana Department of Transportation
and Development, Jason Huh, an assistant professor in the Department
of Economics at Rensselaer, found that traffic accidents in Louisiana
decreased by 47% during March and May 2020 when Louisiana Governor John
Bel Edwards issued a series of orders that closed businesses and schools, limiting mobility throughout the state. Accidents involving injuries
decreased by 46% and those where an ambulance was called fell by 41%.

The number of fatal accidents, however, showed no significant decrease.

Dr. Huh's research also showed that the decline in accidents was not
equal across all demographics. Traffic accidents involving males,
nonwhite drivers, and individuals in the 25 -- 64 age group all saw a
smaller reduction in accidents.

"The number of cars on the roads was altered substantially due to these
stay- at-home orders," Dr. Huh said. "Differential effects on individual behaviors might stem from differences in compliance with the lockdown or
job characteristics such as whether remote work is possible." Dr. Huh
was able to calculate the dollar value of the reduction in car accidents
by combining publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration with his findings of a 47% reduction to approximate
that the COVID-19 lockdown led to a decrease in car crash costs of $21
billion nationally during the March to May 2020 time period.

"While it may seem obvious that when fewer people are driving due to
a public health crisis there would be fewer accidents, the precise
magnitude of the impact and who it is impacting most is important and
useful information for the public, researchers, and policymakers alike,"
he said.

Dr. Huh was joined in the research paper, -- "COVID-19 Lockdown and
Traffic Accidents: Lessons from the Pandemic" -- by Stephen Barnes at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louis-Philippe Beland at Carleton University (Ottawa), and Dongwoo Kim at Texas Christian University.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute. Original written by Jeanne Hedden
Gallagher. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Stephen R. Barnes, Louis‐Philippe Beland, Jason Huh,
Dongwoo Kim.

COVID‐19 lockdown and traffic accidents: Lessons from the
pandemic.

Contemporary Economic Policy, 2022; 40 (2): 349 DOI:
10.1111/coep.12562 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307131948.htm

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