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De-policing and fatal traffic crashes

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  • Barbos, Andrei

Abstract

Traffic stops by the police have declined significantly in recent years in the United States, especially after 2020. It has been hypothesized that this trend could either be a lingering effect of the pandemic or a response to the increased levels of public attention to police abuse determined by several recent highly publicized killings of African Americans. Over the same period, the country experienced a significant increase in fatal traffic crashes. This paper aims to establish a direct link between de-policing and the increase in fatal traffic crashes over the past decade. To this aim, we employ an identification strategy used in the earlier literature to establish a causal relationship between highly publicized police killings and de-policing. Our analysis elicits an impact of de-policing on fatal traffic crashes around the time of the first instances of such high-profile police killings from 2014, and then a much larger effect after 2020.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbos, Andrei, 2025. "De-policing and fatal traffic crashes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:250:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525001211
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112284
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aaron Chalfin & Maxim N. Massenkoff, 2022. "A New Racial Disparity in Traffic Fatalities," NBER Working Papers 30636, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gregory DeAngelo & Benjamin Hansen, 2014. "Life and Death in the Fast Lane: Police Enforcement and Traffic Fatalities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 231-257, May.
    3. Cheng, Cheng & Long, Wei, 2022. "The effect of highly publicized police killings on policing: Evidence from large U.S. cities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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