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Intended and Unintended Consequences of Youth Bicycle Helmet Laws

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  • Christopher S. Carpenter
  • Mark Stehr

Abstract

More than 20 states have adopted laws requiring youths to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. We confirm previous research indicating that these laws reduced fatalities and increased helmet use, but we also show that the laws significantly reduced youth bicycling. We find this result in standard two-way fixed-effects models of parental reports of youth bicycling and in triple-difference models of self-reported bicycling among high school youths that explicitly account for bicycling by youths just above the age threshold of the helmet law. Our results highlight important intended and unintended consequences of a well-intentioned public policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher S. Carpenter & Mark Stehr, 2011. "Intended and Unintended Consequences of Youth Bicycle Helmet Laws," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 305-324.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/652902
    DOI: 10.1086/652902
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    Cited by:

    1. Gernot Sieg, 2016. "Costs and benefits of a bicycle helmet law for Germany," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 935-949, September.
    2. Lauren E. Jones & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2017. "U.S. Child Safety Seat Laws: Are they Effective, and Who Complies?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 584-607, June.
    3. Zheng, Emily Yiying, 2018. "Can technology really help to reduce underage drinking? New evidence on the effects of false ID laws with scanner provisions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 102-112.
    4. Magdalena Blanco & Jose Maria Cabrera & Felipe Carozzi & Alejandro Cid de Orta, 2022. "Mandatory Helmet Use and the Severity of Motorcycle Accidents: No Brainer?," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Spring 20), pages 187-218, June.
    5. Sara Markowitz & Pinka Chatterji, 2015. "Effects Of Bicycle Helmet Laws On Children'S Injuries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 26-40, January.
    6. Christopher S. Carpenter & Casey Warman, 2019. "What Do Bicycle Helmet Laws Do? Evidence From Canada," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(2), pages 832-854, April.
    7. Esther Fasan & Miles Tight & Harry Evdorides, 2021. "Factors Influencing Cycling among Secondary School Adolescents in an Ethnically Diverse City: The Perspective of Birmingham Transport Stakeholders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Stephen C. Newbold, 2012. "Examining the Health‐Risk Tradeoffs of Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(5), pages 791-798, May.
    9. Cuffe, H.E. & Harbaugh, W.T. & Lindo, J.M. & Musto, G. & Waddell, G.R., 2012. "Evidence on the efficacy of school-based incentives for healthy living," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1028-1036.
    10. Christopher S. Carpenter & Hai V. Nguyen, 2015. "Effects of a Driver Cellphone Ban on Overall, Handheld, and Hands‐Free Cellphone Use While Driving: New Evidence from Canada," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(11), pages 1452-1467, November.
    11. Hanson, Andrew & Jolly, Nicholas A. & Peterson, Jeremy, 2017. "Safety regulation in professional football: Empirical evidence of intended and unintended consequences," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 87-99.
    12. Magdalena Blanco & José María Cabrera & Felipe Carozzi & Alejandro Cid, 2017. "Effects of Motorcycle Helmet Laws on Fatalities’ Prevention: An Impact Evaluation," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 1706, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..
    13. Ricardo Medeiros de Castro, 2021. "Documento de Trabalho 01/2021- The problematic binary approach to the concept of dominance," Documentos de Trabalho 2021010, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), Departamento de Estudos Econômicos.
    14. Ricardo Medeiros de Castro, 2021. "Documento de Trabalho 001/2021- The problematic binary approach to the concept of dominance," Documentos de Trabalho 12021, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), Departamento de Estudos Econômicos.
    15. French, Michael & Gumus, Gulcin, 2024. "Hit-and-Run or Hit-and-Stay? Unintended Effects of a Stricter BAC Limit," IZA Discussion Papers 16774, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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