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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
  4. April 2016
  5. Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes

American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics

ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)

Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes

  • Austin C. Smith
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 8, no. 2, April 2016
(pp. 65–91)
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Abstract

Daylight Saving Time (DST) impacts over 1.5 billion people, yet many of its impacts on practicing populations remain uncertain. Exploiting the discrete nature of DST transitions and a 2007 policy change, I estimate the impact of DST on fatal automobile crashes. My results imply that from 2002-2011 the transition into DST caused over 30 deaths at a social cost of $275 million annually. Employing four tests to decompose the aggregate effect into an ambient light or sleep mechanism, I find that shifting ambient light only reallocates fatalities within a day, while sleep deprivation caused by the spring transition increases risk. (JEL I12, Q48, R41)

Citation

Smith, Austin, C. 2016. "Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8 (2): 65–91. DOI: 10.1257/app.20140100

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Behavior
  • Q48 Energy: Government Policy
  • R41 Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
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