Citation

French MT, Gumus G. Risk Anal. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Society for Risk Analysis, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/risa.14280

PMID

38355301

Abstract

Although they comprise a relatively small subset of all traffic deaths, hit-and-run (HR) fatalities are both contemptible and preventable. We analyze longitudinal data from 1982 to 2008 to examine the effects of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) laws on HR traffic fatalities. Our results suggest that lower BAC limits may have an unintended consequence of increasing HR fatalities, whereas a similar effect is absent for non-HR fatalities. Specifically, we find that the adoption of a 0.08 BAC limit is associated to an 8.3% increase in HR fatalities. This unintended effect is more pronounced in urban areas and during weekends, which are typical settings for HR incidents.

Keywords: Ethanol impaired driving

Language: en

Keywords

blood alcohol concentration; driving-under-the-influence; Fatality Analysis Reporting System; hit-and-run; traffic fatalities