The mobility-deterrence relationship in reducing road accidents in Spain during the 21st century.

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30827/rec.7.33176

Keywords:

Deterrence, Road Safety, Time series analysis, Road traffic accidents

Abstract

The present research analyses the role of mobility in the evolution of the accident rate on interurban roads in Spain. Numerous studies have linked the evolution of accident rates to factors connected with police deterrence in road traffic, assuming that its continuous reduction over the last decades in Spain is related to the increase in police vigilance and the tightening of regulatory frameworks. These perspectives do not always take into account all the dimensions of the "deterrence" element, moreover they usually do not pay attention to the essential role that mobility can play, i.e. the number of road journeys that determine the greater or lesser exposure to risk. In order to explore the role of this last factor, the main prevailing regulatory frameworks and three series of data, obtained from the DGT Register for the years 2005 to 2021, have been taken into account, referring to accidents, mobility and penalties imposed. The decomposition of these time series and the construction of ordinary least squares regression models has allowed us to observe that mobility is the factor that seems to have the greatest influence on accidents on interurban roads, and no clear evidence has been found that greater vigilance or more punitive regulatory frameworks lead to lower road accidents.  The implications of this and the limitations of the study are briefly discussed.

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Published

2023-02-16

How to Cite

Sánchez, M. P., Miró-Linares, F., & Carreras Aguerri, jesús. (2023). The mobility-deterrence relationship in reducing road accidents in Spain during the 21st century. REC. Revista Electrónica De Criminología, 7, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.30827/rec.7.33176

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