The unexpected effects of daylight-saving time: Traffic accidents in Mexican municipalities

Salas Rodriguez, Hugo and Hancevic, Pedro (2020): The unexpected effects of daylight-saving time: Traffic accidents in Mexican municipalities.

Abstract

Approximately 70 countries worldwide implement a daylight-saving time (DST) policy: setting their clocks forward in the spring and back in the fall. The main purpose of this practice is to save on electricity. However, by artificially changing the distribution of daylight, this practice can have unforeseen effects. This document provides an analysis of the impact of DST on traffic accidents in Mexico, using two empirical strategies: regression discontinuity design (RDD) and difference-in-differences (DD). The main finding is that setting the clocks forward an hour significantly lowers the total number of traffic accidents in the country’s metropolitan areas. However, there is no clear effect on the number of fatal traffic accidents.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: traffic accidents; daylight saving time; difference-in-differences; regression discontinuity; municipalities in Mexico
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D04 - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis ; Housing ; Infrastructure; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R4 - Transportation Economics > R41 - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion ; Travel Time ; Safety and Accidents ; Transportation Noise

References

Awad Momani, M., Yatim, B., & Ali, M. A. M. (2009). The impact of the daylight saving time on electricity consumption-A case study from Jordan. Energy Policy, 37(5), 2042–2051.

Berk, M., Dodd, S., Hallam, K., Berk, L., Gleeson, J., & Henry, M. (2008). Small shifts in diurnal rhythms are associated with an increase in suicide: The effect of daylight saving. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 6(1), 22–25.

Coate, D., & Markowitz, S. (2004). The effects of daylight and daylight saving time on US pedestrian fatalities and motor vehicle occupant fatalities. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 36(3), 351–357.

Coren, S. (1996). Daylight Savings Time and Traffic Accidents. The New England Journal of Medicine, 334(14), 924.

Doleac, J. L., & Sanders, N. J. (2015). Under the cover of darkness: How ambient light influences criminal activity. Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(5), 1093–1103.

Ferguson, S. A., Preusser, D. F., Lund, A. K., Zador, P. L., & Ulmer, R. G. (1995). Daylight saving time and motor vehicle crashes: The reduction in pedestrian and vehicle occupant fatalities. American Journal of Public Health, 85(1), 92–96.

Fong, W.-K., Matsumoto, H., Lun, Y.-F., & Kimura, R. (2007). Energy Savings Potential of the Summer Time Concept in Different Regions of JapanFrom the Perspective of Household Lighting. Journal of Asian Architecture, 6 (November), 371–378. Retrieved from: http://japanlinkcenter.org/JST.JSTAGE/jaabe/6.371?from=Google

Franco, C., R. Sampiao, G., Sampaio, B., & T. Machado, W. (2015). Avançar o relógio em uma hora pode reduzir acidentes ? Evidências da política de Horário de Verão no Brasil. Retrieved from: https://www.bnb.gov.br/documents/160445/781488/M3_Art_2.pdf/a50e9a36-cf3d-4a52-b8ac-f7ce33ef0faa

Hancevic, P., & Margulis, D. (2018) "Horario de verano y consumo de electricidad: el caso de Argentina." El trimestre económico, 85(339): 515-542. An earlier English version of this paper is available at: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/80481/

Hicks, G. J., Davis, J. W., & Hicks, R. A. (1998). Fatal Alcohol-Related Traffic Crashes Increase Subsequent to Changes to and from Daylight Savings Time. Perceptul and Motor Skills, 86, 879–882.

Hill, S. I., Desobry, F., Garnsey, E. W., & Chong, Y. F. (2010). The impact on energy consumption of daylight saving clock changes. Energy Policy, 38(9), 4955–4965.

Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, & Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes. (2014). Anuario estadístico de accidentes en carreteras federales (2012).

Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. (2015). Accidentes de Tránsito terrestres en zonas Urbanas y Suburbanas. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from: http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/proyectos/registros/economicas/accidentes/presentacion.aspx

Kamstra, M. J., Kramer, L. A., & Levi, M. D. (2000). Losing Sleep at the Market: The Daylight Saving Anomaly. The American Economic Review, 90(4), 1005–1011.

Karasu, S. (2010). The effect of daylight saving time options on electricity consumption of Turkey. Energy, 35(9), 3773–3782.

Kellogg, R., & Wolff, H. (2008). Daylight time and energy: Evidence from an Australian experiment. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 56(3), 207–220.

Kotchen, M. J., & Grant, L. E. (2011). Does Daylight Saving Time Save Energy? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Indiana. Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(November), 1172–1185.

Lahti, T. A., Leppamaki, S., Lonnqvist, J., & Partonen, T. (2006). Transition to daylight saving time reduces sleep duration plus sleep efficiency of the deprived sleep. Neuroscience Letters, 406(3), 174–177.

Mirza, F. M., & Bergland, O. (2011). The impact of daylight saving time on electricity consumption: Evidence from southern Norway and Sweden. Energy Policy, 39(6), 3558–3571.

Rock, B. a. (1997). Impact of daylight saving time on residential energy consumption and cost. Energy and Buildings, 25(1), 63–68.

Smith, A. C. (2016). Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8(2), 65–91.

Sood, N., & Ghosh, A. (2007). The Short and Long Run Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Fatal Automobile Crashes. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 7(1), 1–22.

Toro, W., Tigre, R., & Sampaio, B. (2015). Daylight Saving Time and incidence of myocardial infarction: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design. Economics Letters, 136, 1–4.

Whittaker, J. D. (1996). An investigation into the effects of British Summer Time on road traffic accident casualties in Cheshire. Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine, 13(3), 189–192.

World Health Organization. (2016). Estadísticas Sanitarias Mundiales. Retrieved June 21, 2020, from: http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A997?lang=es

World Health Organization. (2017). The top 10 causes of death. Retrieved February 26, 2017, from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/

Worthington, A. C. (2003). Losing Sleep At the Market: an Empirical Note on the Daylight Saving Anomaly in Australia. Economic Papers, 22(3), 85–95.