Abstract
This paper presents an empirical investigation of the casualties of road traffic fatalities in Sweden from the perspective of different socio-economic factors. We use the annual data on traffic fatalities, income level, vehicle park, population, traffic offence, fuel price and unemployment rate over the period 1992-2009. Paper addresses the methodological issues related to the nonstationarity problem and reflects the outcome in the model specification. Results indicate that driving license revocations due to the drunk driving are positively associated with traffic fatalities, which implies that police strengthens the enforcement of traffic laws after the increase in traffic fatality rate. Moreover, an increase in unemployment rate reduces traffic fatalities through a negative impact on vehicle ownership. At last, a traffic fatality rate tends to decrease over time due to the advances in vehicle design, highway quality, medical care and other traffic safety measures.
JEL classification numbers: C22, C51, O18, R41
Keywords: traffic fatality, accident, unit root, time series
[ Download ]
