Hit-and-run or hit-and-stay? Unintended effects of a stricter BAC limit

Michael T French; Gulcin Gumus

doi:10.1111/risa.14280

Hit-and-run or hit-and-stay? Unintended effects of a stricter BAC limit

Risk Anal. 2024 Feb 14. doi: 10.1111/risa.14280. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Michael T French¹, Gulcin Gumus^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Management and Policy, Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
² Department of Management Programs, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
³ IZA, Bonn, Germany.

PMID: 38355301
DOI: 10.1111/risa.14280

Abstract

Although they comprise a relatively small subset of all traffic deaths, hit-and-run (HR) fatalities are both contemptible and preventable. We analyze longitudinal data from 1982 to 2008 to examine the effects of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) laws on HR traffic fatalities. Our results suggest that lower BAC limits may have an unintended consequence of increasing HR fatalities, whereas a similar effect is absent for non-HR fatalities. Specifically, we find that the adoption of a 0.08 BAC limit is associated to an 8.3% increase in HR fatalities. This unintended effect is more pronounced in urban areas and during weekends, which are typical settings for HR incidents.

Keywords: Fatality Analysis Reporting System; blood alcohol concentration; driving-under-the-influence; hit-and-run; traffic fatalities.