Working Paper: NBER ID: w24308
Authors: Mara Faccio; John J. McConnell
Abstract: Using police accident reports for Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and exploiting the introduction of the augmented reality game Pokémon GO as a natural experiment, we document a disproportionate increase in crashes and associated vehicular damage, injuries, and fatalities in the vicinity of locations where users can play the game while driving. We estimate the incremental county-wide cost of users playing Pokémon GO while driving to be in the range of $5.2 to $25.5 million over the 148 days following the introduction of the game. Extrapolating these estimates to nation-wide levels yields a total ranging from $2.0 to $7.3 billion.
Keywords: Pokémon Go; vehicular crashes; distracted driving; economic costs; human costs
JEL Codes: O33; R40
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Introduction of Pokémon Go (Y20) | Increase in vehicular crashes (R48) |
| Introduction of Pokémon Go (Y20) | Increase in injuries (J28) |
| Introduction of Pokémon Go (Y20) | Increase in fatalities (J17) |
| Introduction of Pokémon Go (Y20) | Increase in vehicular damage (R48) |
| Increase in vehicular crashes (R48) | Increase in economic costs (F69) |
| Increase in injuries (J28) | Increase in economic costs (F69) |
| Increase in fatalities (J17) | Increase in economic costs (F69) |