[tz] U.S. DST causes an estimated 30 traffic-accident deaths/year

Paul Eggert eggert at cs.ucla.edu
Thu May 25 22:05:24 UTC 2017


Austin Smith of Miami University analyzed data from the U.S. Fatality 
Analysis Reporting System both before and after the 2007 daylight-saving 
rule change, and found that the spring-forward transition increased 
fatal crash risk by 5% to 6.5%, with four statistical tests suggesting 
that the increase is explained by sleep deprivation. Smith concludes, 
"Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the spring transition 
into DST caused over 30 deaths annually at a social cost of $275 
million." I assume this estimate is for just the U.S.

Smith AC. Spring forward at your own risk: daylight saving time and 
fatal vehicle crashes. Am Econ J: Appl Econ. 2016;8(2):65-91. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/app.20140100



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