DP12314 The Accident Externality from Trucking

Author(s):	Ziyan Chu, Lucija Muehlenbachs, Stefan Staubli
Publication Date:	September 2017
Keyword(s):	externality, hydraulic fracturing, traffic fatalities, trucking
JEL(s):	G22, H23, I18, Q58, R41
Programme Areas:	Public Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=12314

The presence of a heavy truck on the road can impose an externality if accidents occur that would not have otherwise. We find each additional truck on the road increases the risk of a truck accident---but also, at an even higher rate, the risk of a car-on-car collision. Our estimates imply two percent of all car-on-car collisions can be attributed to trucks on the road. This negative externality falls on all road users through higher car insurance premiums: one truck, driving for a year in the same zip code, increases the insurance premium of each new enrollee by $0.48/year.