Public health crisis and risky road behaviors

Abstract

This study investigates how exposure to riskier environments influences risky road behaviors, using the COVID‐19 pandemic as a natural experiment. Utilizing administrative individual traffic violation records from Taipei, where neither mandatory lockdown nor mobility restrictions were imposed, we find that pandemic‐induced risk decreased speeding violations and that the effect was transitory. However, no significant changes were observed concerning violations with a minimal risk of casualties, such as illegal parking. These findings suggest that experiencing a higher level of life‐threatening risk discourages risky behaviors concerning human life but has little spillover effect on those concerning only financial costs.