{"title":"Marijuana laws and pedestrian fatalities in the United States","authors":"James Dewey, Sravani Vadlamani","doi":"10.1016/j.iatssr.2023.01.006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Pedestrian fatality rates in the US began to increase in 2009, after three decades of decline. This increase is occurring at the same time policy makers are encouraging walking as a healthy and sustainable transportation mode. The increase in pedestrian fatalities is also concurrent with the spread of liberalization of marijuana use laws across the US. Has the liberalization of marijuana laws contributed to the increase in pedestrian fatalities?</p><p>Using a Poisson regression generalized difference in difference design, we measure the relationship between pedestrian fatalities and liberalization of marijuana laws. We employ randomization inference since persistent idiosyncratic shocks in the state time series may create spurious correlations that inflate type 1 error rates for conventional hypothesis tests. Consistent with the alcohol substitution hypothesis, we find both medical and recreational marijuana laws are followed by a statistically significant reduction in daytime fatalities involving alcohol. Both are also followed by a reduction in nighttime fatalities involving alcohol, but the declines are not statistically significant.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47059,"journal":{"name":"IATSS Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IATSS Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0386111223000067","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"TRANSPORTATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Pedestrian fatality rates in the US began to increase in 2009, after three decades of decline. This increase is occurring at the same time policy makers are encouraging walking as a healthy and sustainable transportation mode. The increase in pedestrian fatalities is also concurrent with the spread of liberalization of marijuana use laws across the US. Has the liberalization of marijuana laws contributed to the increase in pedestrian fatalities?
Using a Poisson regression generalized difference in difference design, we measure the relationship between pedestrian fatalities and liberalization of marijuana laws. We employ randomization inference since persistent idiosyncratic shocks in the state time series may create spurious correlations that inflate type 1 error rates for conventional hypothesis tests. Consistent with the alcohol substitution hypothesis, we find both medical and recreational marijuana laws are followed by a statistically significant reduction in daytime fatalities involving alcohol. Both are also followed by a reduction in nighttime fatalities involving alcohol, but the declines are not statistically significant.
期刊介绍:
First published in 1977 as an international journal sponsored by the International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, IATSS Research has contributed to the dissemination of interdisciplinary wisdom on ideal mobility, particularly in Asia. IATSS Research is an international refereed journal providing a platform for the exchange of scientific findings on transportation and safety across a wide range of academic fields, with particular emphasis on the links between scientific findings and practice in society and cultural contexts. IATSS Research welcomes submission of original research articles and reviews that satisfy the following conditions: 1.Relevant to transportation and safety, and the multiple impacts of transportation systems on security, human health, and the environment. 2.Contains important policy and practical implications based on scientific evidence in the applicable academic field. In addition to welcoming general submissions, IATSS Research occasionally plans and publishes special feature sections and special issues composed of invited articles addressing specific topics.