Working Paper: NBER ID: w15658
Authors: Christopher S. Carpenter; Mark F. Stehr
Abstract: Over 20 states have adopted laws requiring youths to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. We confirm previous research indicating that these laws reduced fatalities and increased helmet use, but we also show that the laws significantly reduced youth bicycling. We find this result in standard two-way fixed effects models of parental reports of youth bicycling, as well as in triple difference models of self-reported bicycling among high school youths that explicitly account for bicycling by youths just above the helmet law age threshold. Our results highlight important intended and unintended consequences of a well-intentioned public policy.
Keywords: bicycle helmet laws; youth safety; public health policy
JEL Codes: I00; K00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mandatory bicycle helmet laws (R48) | Youth bicycling fatalities (R48) |
| Mandatory bicycle helmet laws (R48) | Helmet use among youths (R48) |
| Mandatory bicycle helmet laws (R48) | Youth bicycling participation (J13) |
| Helmet use among youths (R48) | Youth bicycling participation (J13) |