Information Technology and Road Safety

In this paper, we study how information technology (IT) affects road safety through higher enforcement of traffic laws. Thanks to unique administrative geo-localized data on the universe of road accidents in a major Italian city, we assess the impact of IT on road safety within a quasi-random experiment that exploits the roll-out of intelligent red-light cameras in road intersections. Our findings suggest that IT-based enforcement significantly reduces accidents, but have negligible effects on injuries, as it affects mostly accidents that do not involve casualties. The impact is extremely local, and it is not driven by displacement effects toward uncontrolled roads. Exploring potential mechanisms, we find that the increase in road safety can be explained by higher coordination: IT improves coordination among road users by restraining them toward more compliant behavior. In turn, this affects overall road safety. Finally, a simple cost-benefit analysis shows significant savings compared to police patrols.