Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Law and Economics

Publication Date

5-2011

ISSN

2709-8133

Page Number

305

Keywords

bicycle helmet laws, public policy, injuries, unintended consequences

Disciplines

Health Law and Policy | Law

Abstract

More than 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 and in triple-difference models of self-reported bicycling among high school youths that explicitly account for bicycling by youths just above the age threshold of the helmet law. Our results highlight important intended and unintended consequences of a well-intentioned public policy.

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