The effect of traffic tickets on road traffic crashes
Roni Factor∗School of Criminology, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israela
b s t r a c t:
Road traffic crashes are globally a leading cause of death. The current study tests the effect of traffic ticketsissued to drivers on subsequent crashes, using a unique dataset that overcomes some shortcomings ofprevious studies. The study takes advantage of a national longitudinal dataset at the individual level thatmerges Israeli census data with data on traffic tickets issued by the police and official data on involvementin road traffic crashes over seven years. The results show that the estimated probability of involvementin a subsequent fatal or severe crash was more than eleven times higher for drivers with six traffic ticketsper year compared to those with one ticket per year, while controlling for various confounders. However,the majority of fatal and severe crashes involved the larger population of drivers who received up to oneticket on average per year. The current findings indicate that reducing traffic violations may contributesignificantly to crash and injury reduction. In addition, mass random enforcement programs may be moreeffective in reducing fatal and severe crashes than targeting high-risk recidivist drivers.© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Keywords:Road traffic accidentsTraffic violationsHigh-risk behaviorsSocioeconomic statusDistance traveledEnforcementa.
10.1016-j.aap.2013.11.010.pdf