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How Do Gas Prices Affect Road Accidents And Fatalities From The United States?

Decent Essays

The economic question I plan to provide insight on is: “how do gas prices affect road accidents and fatalities in the United States?”

Low gas prices tend to increase the distance travelled by motor vehicles and therefore, increase the likelihood of road accidents. Higher gas prices will ease congestion on the road and will reduce the demand in driving a motorized vehicle. This will therefore reduce the probability of an accident from occurring. If gas prices are low, the number of road accidents have shown to increase in four-wheeled vehicles. Meanwhile, if gas prices are high, the number of road accidents are likely to decrease. Therefore, we can see an inverse relationship between gas prices and four-wheeled motor vehicles. I plan to further explain the effect that these prices have on road accidents.

Policy Relevance:
In the articles I have chosen for my paper, the authors’ objective is mainly to examine the types of interventions the government can use to reduce the total number of road accidents involving automobiles. These policies may include raising the tax prices of gasoline, decreasing the unemployment rate, and many others. In my paper, I will examine each of the authors’ objectives and explain the policy interventions the government can use to solve the problems suggested by the authors.
Article #1: Gasoline Prices and Motor Vehicle Fatalities
Reference: Grabowski, D. C., & Morrisey, M. A. (2004). Gasoline prices and motor vehicle fatalities. Journal of Policy

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