1st Student's Major
Economics
1st Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Students' Professional Biography
Recipient of Minnesota State University, Mankato Foundation Grant. Hanna Beth Stapleton is a research assistant of economics at Minnesota State University at Mankato.
Mentor's Name
Kwang-Woo (Ken) Park
Mentor's Email Address
kwang-woo.park@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Economics
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Other Mentors
Myeong Hwan Kim
Abstract
This paper investigates the determinants of motor vehicle fatalities in each of the 50 states in the U.S., along with the District of Columbia. Using a panel data set from 1994 to 2005, we analyze how the factors, such as safety belt laws, speed control, alcohol usage, fine, driving conditions and annual vehicle-miles of travel (VMT), affect the incidence of traffic fatalities. Econometric models are developed and the estimates are obtained from a general-to-specific specification search based upon all the diagnostic tests in order to increase the probability of selecting models which are statistically reliable. The empirical results show that number of drivers and vehicles, VMT, speed, and fine are statistically significant, whereas safety belt usage and state alcohol policies do not show any significant support for reducing traffic fatalities.
Recommended Citation
Stapleton, Hanna
(2008)
"Determinants of Traffic Fatalities in the U.S.,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 8, Article 13.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1083
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol8/iss1/13
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License