The Effects of Socio-Economic and Public Policy Factors on U.S. Highway Safety

This article reports on a study of the influence of socioeconomic factors and safety policies on highway safety in the United States. The authors focus on three areas: the most influential socioeconomic and demographic factors involved in highway safety research; the significant factors that impact highway fatality rates over time in the U.S. (from a macro perspective); and the implications for U.S. public policy with respect to highway safety policy. The authors performed a panel data analysis to examine the effects of five socioeconomic factors and two safety policies during the years 2005 to 2011. Factors included are education level, health insurance, vehicle age, highway maintenance, unemployment, distracted driving laws, and seat belt use. Five of these factors (all but health insurance and distracted driving laws) were found to have significant effects to the fatality rate, which was used as the measure of highway safety. The authors conclude by briefly discussing how their findings may be applied to U.S. highway safety policies.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.atlp.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12:journal-of-transportation-law-logistics-policy&catid=9&Itemid=116
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/31144651
• Authors:
  • Tsai, Yao-Te
  • Alhwiti, Theyab
  • Swartz, Stephen M
  • Megahed, Fadel M
• Publication Date: 2015

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 31-48
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transportation Law, Logistics and Policy
  • Volume: 82
  • Issue Number: 1-2
  • Publisher: Association for Transportation Law, Logistics and Policy
  • ISSN: 1078-5906
  • Serial URL: http://www.atlp.org/journal.html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Demographics; Fatalities; Highway maintenance; Highway safety; Persons by educational level; Persons by employment status; Policy making; Public policy; Seat belt use; Socioeconomic factors
• Subject Areas: Highways; Policy; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01605198
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 27 2016 9:48AM