Browsing by Subject "gasoline prices, traffic incidents, traffic safety, age, gender"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Gasoline Price Effects on Traffic Safety in Urban and Rural Areas: Evidence from Minnesota, 1998–2007
    (2013) Chi, Guangqing; Quddus, Mohammed A.; Huang, Arthur; Levinson, David M
    A large literature base has found that economic factors have important effects on traffic crashes. A small but growing branch of literature also examines the role that gasoline prices play in the occurrence of traffic crashes. However, no studies have investigated the possible difference of these effects between urban and rural areas. In this study, we used the monthly traffic crash data from 1998–2007 at the county level in Minnesota to investigate the possibly different effects gasoline prices may have on traffic crashes in urban versus rural areas. The results indicate significant difference of gasoline price effects on total crashes in urban versus rural areas. Gasoline prices also significantly affect the frequency of injury crashes in both urban and rural areas; however, the difference is not significant. Gasoline prices have no significant effects on the frequency of fatal crashes in urban and rural areas. Traffic volume plays a bigger role on the incidence of injury and fatal crashes. The results concerning the differences between urban and rural areas have important policy implications for traffic safety planners and decision makers.
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    Gasoline Prices and Traffic Safety in Mississippi
    (National Safety Council, 2010) Chi, Guangqing; Cosby, Arthur G; Quddus, Mohammed A.; Gilbert, Paul A.; Levinson, David M
    Problem - Limited literature suggests that gasoline prices have substantial effects on reducing fatal crashes. However, the literature focuses only on fatal crashes and does not examine the effects on all traffic crashes. Methods - Mississippi traffic crash data from April 2004–December 2008 from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and regular-grade unleaded gasoline price data from the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy were used to investigate the effects of gasoline prices on traffic safety by age, gender, and race. Results - Gasoline prices have both short-term and intermediate-term effects on reducing total traffic crashes and crashes of females, whites, and blacks. The intermediate-term effects are generally stronger than the short-term effects. Gasoline prices also have short-term effects on reducing crashes of younger drivers and intermediate-term effects on older drivers and male drivers. Impact on Industry - Higher gasoline taxes reduce traffic crashes and may result in additional societal benefits.
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    The Impact of Gasoline Price Changes on Traffic Safety: a Time Geography Explanation
    (2013) Chi, Guangqing; Porter, Jeremy; Cosby, Arthur; Levinson, David M
    The impact of gasoline price changes on traffic safety has received increasing attention in empirical studies. However, this important relationship has not been explained within a conceptual or theoretical framework. In this study, we examine this relationship within a time geography framework in an attempt to understand the effect of time-varying fluctuations in gasoline prices and their relationship to traffic safety in a case study of Mississippi from April 2004 to December 2008. We further extend this work by examining the degree to which this relationship is differential in impact by age, gender, and race. The results suggest that changes in gasoline prices have immediate effects on reducing total traffic crashes and crashes of younger drivers, women, and whites. However, changes in gasoline prices do not affect total crashes of older drivers, men, or blacks. Within the theoretical framework of time geography, we understand gasoline prices as one type of capability constraint of the space-time path and space- time prism. As gasoline prices increase (that is, as the capability constraint becomes stronger), traffic crash rates will decrease. However, the effects vary by age, gender, and race because the capability constraint of gasoline prices differs across demographic groups.