Uber and alcohol-related traffic fatalities

Working Paper 29071

DOI 10.3386 / w29071

Publication date July 2021

Commentary

Previous studies examining traffic fatalities and the impact of ridesharing have yielded inconsistent and contradictory conclusions.

This study used proprietary data from Uber, which measures monthly ridesharing activity at the census tract level, to revisit this question.

Previous studies have been based on publicly available information on Uber entry dates into U.S. urban areas, but have shown that the indicator variable of Uber availability is an inadequate measure of rideshare activity.

The study explained less than 3% of the region's variation in levels of ridesharing. This reflects the vast amount of variation within and between cities.

When using the entries, we found inconsistent and statistically insignificant estimates. However, using more detailed proprietary data, we find that ridesharing has a significant negative impact on traffic fatalities.

This impact is concentrated at night and on weekends, and is robust across a range of alternative specifications.

Through these, the results show that ridesharing has reduced alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the U.S. by 6.1% and total traffic fatalities in the U.S. by 4.0%.

This is based on traditional estimates of the value of a statistical life, which range from $2.3 to $5.4 billion in annual life-saving benefits.