Documentation for Seatbelts Data

Documentation for Seatbelts Data
Seatbelts is a balanced panel from 50 U.S. States, plus the District of Columbia, for the
years 1983-1997. These data were provided by Professor Liran Einav of Stanford
University and were used in his paper with Alma Cohen: “The Effects of Mandatory Seat
Belt Laws on Driving Behavior and Traffic Fatalities,” The Review of Economics and
Statistics, 2003, Vol. 85, No. 4, pp 828-843
Variable Definitions
Variable Definition
fatalityrate Number of fatalities per million of traffic miles
sb_usage Seat belt usage rate
speed65 Binary variable for 65 mile per hour speed limit
speed70 Binary variable for 70 or higher mile per hour speed limit
ba08 Binary variable for blood alcohol limit ≤ .08%
drinkage21 Binary variable for age 21 drinking age
income Per capita income
age Mean age
primary Binary variable for primary enforcement of seat belt laws
secondary Binary variable for secondary enforcement of seat belt laws
vmt Millions of traffic miles per year. (Note: Number of fatalities =
fatalityrateï‚´vmt)
state State
year Year
fips State ID Code