On the effects of COVID-19 safer-at-home policies on social distancing, car crashes and pollution

Abel Brodeur; Nikolai Cook; Taylor Wright

doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102427

On the effects of COVID-19 safer-at-home policies on social distancing, car crashes and pollution

J Environ Econ Manage. 2021 Mar:106:102427. doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102427. Epub 2021 Feb 6.

Authors

Abel Brodeur¹, Nikolai Cook¹, Taylor Wright¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, 120 University, Social Sciences Building, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impacts of COVID-19 safer-at-home polices on collisions and pollution. We find that statewide safer-at-home policies lead to a 20% reduction in vehicular collisions and that the effect is entirely driven by less severe collisions. For pollution, we find particulate matter concentration levels approximately 1.5 μg/m³ lower during the period of a safer-at-home order, representing a 25% reduction. We document a similar reduction in air pollution following the implementation of similar policies in Europe. We calculate that as of the end of June 2020, the benefits from avoided car collisions in the U.S. were approximately $16 billion while the benefits from reduced air pollution could be as high as $13 billion.

Keywords: Air pollution; COVID-19; Car crashes; Lockdowns; Safer-at-home.