Kirk David S, Cavalli Nicolo, Brazil Noli
Nuffield College and Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Nuffield College and Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy, Bocconi University, via Guglielmo Rontgen 1, 20136, Milan, Italy.
Soc Sci Med. 2020 Jan 11;250:112793. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112793.
The nature of transportation has fundamentally transformed in recent years with the rise of ridehailing providers such as Uber. Yet, few studies have examined whether there is an association between ridehailing and rates of road accident injuries, and virtually all of the existing studies focus on the exceptional case of the United States. In this study, we exploit differences in the timing of the deployment of Uber across Britain to test the association between the advent of Uber's ridehailing services and rates of fatal and non-fatal road accidents. We find that the deployment of Uber in Great Britain is associated with a marginally significant reduction in the number of serious road accident injuries (e.g., fractures and internal injuries), although not the number of serious accidents. Slight injuries (e.g., sprains and bruises) declined outside of London after the rollout of Uber, but increased within London. We do not observe a statistically significant association between Uber and traffic fatalities. One interpretation for the decline in serious road injuries is that Uber may be a substitute form of transportation for risky drivers, including drink-drivers. However, ridehailing is also a substitute for public transit, particularly buses. The increase in the number of cars on the road may explain why slight injuries increased in London following Uber's rollout.
近年来，随着优步等网约车服务提供商的兴起，交通出行的本质发生了根本性转变。然而，很少有研究探讨网约车与道路交通事故受伤率之间是否存在关联，而且几乎所有现有研究都聚焦于美国这一特殊案例。在本研究中，我们利用优步在英国各地部署时间的差异，来检验优步网约车服务的出现与致命及非致命道路交通事故率之间的关联。我们发现，优步在英国的部署与严重道路交通事故受伤人数（如骨折和内伤）的略微显著减少有关，但与严重事故的数量无关。优步推出后，伦敦以外地区的轻伤（如扭伤和擦伤）有所下降，但伦敦市内的轻伤人数却有所增加。我们没有观察到优步与交通死亡人数之间存在统计学上的显著关联。对严重道路受伤人数下降的一种解释是，优步可能是包括酒后驾车者在内的危险驾驶者的一种替代性交通方式。然而，网约车也是公共交通，尤其是公交车的替代品。道路上汽车数量的增加可能解释了优步推出后伦敦轻伤人数增加的原因。
