IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/riskan/v11y1991i2p279-289.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

General Deterrence of Drunk Driving: Evaluation of Recent American Policies

Author

Listed:
  • William N. Evans
  • Doreen Neville
  • John D. Graham

Abstract

A testable hypothesis of deterrence theory is that efforts to increase the expected cost of criminal activity by increasing the threat of punishment should, other things being equal, reduce the crime rate. In this paper, we examine whether the incidence of drinking and driving is responsive to escalation of the punitive threat. The recent national campaign against drunk driving provides a natural experiment in which to test the predictions of deterrence theory. Using state level data over the 1975–1986 period, we report no conclusive evidence that any specific form of punitive legislation is having a measurable effect on motor vehicle fatalities. We report suggestive evidence that multiple laws designed to increase the certainty of punishment (e.g., sobriety checkpoints and preliminary breath tests) have a synergistic deterrent effect. The most striking finding is that mandatory seat belt use laws and beer taxes may be more effective at reducing drunk driving fatalities than policies aimed at general deterrence.

Suggested Citation

  • William N. Evans & Doreen Neville & John D. Graham, 1991. "General Deterrence of Drunk Driving: Evaluation of Recent American Policies," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 279-289, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:11:y:1991:i:2:p:279-289
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1991.tb00604.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1991.tb00604.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1991.tb00604.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Philip J. Cook & George Tauchen, 1984. "The Effect of Minimum Drinking Age Legislation on Youthful Auto Fatalities, 1970-1977," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(1), pages 169-190, January.
    3. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    4. Evans, William N & Graham, John D, 1991. "Risk Reduction or Risk Compensation? The Case of Mandatory Safety-Belt Use Laws," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 61-73, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paul L. Zador & Adrian K. Lund, 1993. "Did the Laws Have an Effect?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 23-23, February.
    2. Yury A. Pleskachyev & Yury Yu. Ponomarev & Matvey A. Saprykin, 2023. "Территориальное Планирование И Прогнозирование Экономических Показателей Методами Машинного Обучения," Russian Economic Development (in Russian), Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 9, pages 46-57, September.
    3. Rebollo-Sanz, Yolanda & Rodríguez-López, Jesús & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2021. "Penalty-point system, deterrence and road safety: A quasi-experimental analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 408-433.
    4. Paul L. Zador & Adrian K. Lund, 1993. "Note and Comment on “General Deterrence of Drunk Driving: Evaluation of Recent American Policies”," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 17-20, February.
    5. Parry Ian W. H. & West Sarah E & Laxminarayan Ramanan, 2009. "Fiscal and Externality Rationales for Alcohol Policies," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-48, July.
    6. Yury A. Pleskachyev & Yury Yu. Ponomarev & Matvey A. Saprykin, 2023. "Territorial Planning and Forecasting of Economic Indicators by Machine Learning Methods [Территориальное Планирование И Прогнозирование Экономических Показателей Методами Машинного Обучения]," Russian Economic Development, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 9, pages 46-57, September.
    7. Ruhm, Christopher J., 1996. "Alcohol policies and highway vehicle fatalities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 435-454, August.
    8. Farrell, Susan & Manning, Willard G. & Finch, Michael D., 2003. "Alcohol dependence and the price of alcoholic beverages," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 117-147, January.
    9. Parry, Ian W.H. & Laxminarayan, Ramanan & West, Sarah E., 2006. "Fiscal and Externality Rationales for Alcohol Taxes," RFF Working Paper Series dp-06-51, Resources for the Future.
    10. Douglas J. Young & Agnieszka Bielinska‐Kwapisz, 2006. "Alcohol Prices, Consumption, and Traffic Fatalities," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 690-703, January.
    11. William N. Evans & John D. Graham & Doreen Neville, 1993. "Toward Humility in Statistical Interpretation," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 21-22, February.
    12. Bruce L. Benson, 2007. "Private Policing And Private Roads: A Coasian Approach To Drunk‐Driving Policy," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 30-38, December.
    13. Brent D. Mast & Bruce L. Benson & David W. Rasmussen, 1999. "Beer Taxation and Alcohol‐Related Traffic Fatalities," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(2), pages 214-249, October.
    14. Yolanda Rebollo-Sanz & Jesús Rodríguez-López & Nùria Rodríguez-Planas, 2018. "Penalty-Point System, Deterrence and Road Safety: An Empirical Approach," Working Papers 18.14, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. S. Ravid & Suman Basuroy, 2003. "Managerial Objectives, the R-Rating Puzzle and the Production of Violent Films," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm383, Yale School of Management.
    2. Lessmann, Christian & Markwardt, Gunther, 2010. "One Size Fits All? Decentralization, Corruption, and the Monitoring of Bureaucrats," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 631-646, April.
    3. Antonio Nicita & Simona Benedettini, 2012. "The Costs of Avoiding Accidents.Selective Compliance and the 'Peltzman Effect' in Italy," Department of Economics University of Siena 631, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    4. Entorf, Horst & Winkler, Peter, 2001. "The economics of crime: investigating the drugs-crime channel: empirical evidence from panel data of the German states," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-37, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Thomas S. Dee & William N. Evans, 2001. "Teens and Traffic Safety," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 121-166, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Tsani, Stella, 2013. "Natural resources, governance and institutional quality: The role of resource funds," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 181-195.
    7. Sara Markowitz, 2001. "The Role of Alcohol and Drug Consumption in Determining Physical Fights and Weapon Carrying by Teenagers," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 27(4), pages 409-432, Fall.
    8. Andreas Buehn & Christian Lessmann & Gunther Markwardt, 2013. "Decentralization and the shadow economy: Oates meets Allingham--Sandmo," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(18), pages 2567-2578, June.
    9. Benson, Bruce L. & Rasmussen, David W. & Mast, Brent D., 1999. "Deterring drunk driving fatalities: an economics of crime perspective1," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 205-225, June.
    10. Santiago Gómez & Daniel Mejía & Santiago Tobón, 2021. "The Deterrent Effect Of Surveillance Cameras On Crime," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 553-571, March.
    11. Horst Entorf & Peter Winker, 2001. "The Economics of Crime: Investigating the Drugs-Crime Channel," Law and Economics 0108001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Heaton, Paul, 2006. "Does Religion Really Reduce Crime?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 147-172, April.
    13. Tao, Hung-Lin, 2004. "Property crime distribution and equal police deployment--an empirical study of Taiwan," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 165-178, January.
    14. Lee, Charles M.C. & Ng, David T.C., 2002. "Corruption and International Valuation: Does Virtue Pay?," Working Papers 127288, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    15. Santiago Tobón, 2017. "Condiciones de Reclusión y Reincidencia: Evidencia de una expansión de cupos carcelario," Documentos CEDE 15293, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    16. Steve Cook & Tom Winfield, 2015. "The urban-rural divide, regional disaggregation and the convergence of crime," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(47), pages 5072-5087, October.
    17. Sara Markowitz, 2000. "An Economic Analysis of Alcohol, Drugs, and Violent Crime in the National Crime Victimization Survey," NBER Working Papers 7982, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Steve Cook & Tom Winfield, 2013. "Crime across the States: Are US Crime Rates Converging?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1724-1741, July.
    19. Dominik Schreyer, 2019. "Football spectator no-show behaviour in the German Bundesliga," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(45), pages 4882-4901, September.
    20. S. Arunachalam & Sridhar N. Ramaswami & Pol Herrmann & Doug Walker, 2018. "Innovation pathway to profitability: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 744-766, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:11:y:1991:i:2:p:279-289. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.