No-Fault Insurance and Automobile Accidents

Paul Heaton, Eric Helland

Published Jan 16, 2009

Removing accident liability through a no-fault system may only have minor effects on driver care, yet existing studies assessing whether no-fault auto insurance requirements increase accidents use fatal accidents as the primary outcome. In this paper the authors estimate the effect of no-fault on overall accident rates using detailed data from police accident reports in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Utah. They focus on accidents involving out-of-state drivers and account for differences in driving prevalence using accidents beyond the control of the driver. Controlling for a wide variety of accident, driver, and vehicle characteristics, they find little evidence that drivers under no-fault cause more accidents. Results on accident severity are mixed.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2009
  • Pages: 37
  • Document Number: WR-551-ICJ

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Heaton, Paul and Eric Helland, No-Fault Insurance and Automobile Accidents. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009. https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR551.html.
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