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POINTS OR PRISON? THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SANCTIONS ON DRIVING BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
Bruzzone Silvia,
Castriota Stefano,
Tonin Mirco
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/coep.12500
Subject(s) - sanctions , license , crash , event (particle physics) , prison , homicide , actuarial science , deterrence (psychology) , business , economics , transport engineering , engineering , poison control , computer science , criminology , psychology , suicide prevention , political science , medicine , environmental health , law , physics , law and economics , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system
We compare two reforms aimed at reducing road accidents in Italy. The Penalty Points System (PPS) provides drivers with a score and curtails points after infractions. The license is temporarily suspended when points are exhausted. Losing points is easy, but the penalty is mild. The Road Homicide (RH) introduces heavy penalties in the rare event of injuries and/or fatalities. In terms of probability and intensity of the penalty the two policies are therefore diametrically opposed. We find that injuries and fatalities decrease more with PPS than with RH. Comparing costs and benefits, we conclude that strong penalties are not beneficial. ( JEL D91, K14, K42, R41)