Reducing the Death Toll of Road Accidents in Costa Rica through the Introduction of Roadworthiness Inspections by the Government

27 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2019 Last revised: 18 Jul 2019

Date Written: July 15, 2019

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects on traffic safety and the associated economic savings of the introduction of RITEVE, the Periodical Technical Inspections (PTI) in Costa Rica. Since there were no national estimates for the costs of crashes in Costa Rica available, this study derives and evaluates in a first step different ways to estimate these costs. Subsequently these are used for a cost-benefit analysis to bench-mark the policy decision to introduce periodical technical inspections. The findings show that there are considerable economic gains from having such a system in place with high cost-benefit ratios. The study shall give insights and encourage other countries to introduce or consider such measures as they can be an important step toward more road safety and reduce the cost of crashes for society and the economy.

Keywords: periodic technical inspection; Costa Rica; cost-benefit analysis; policy; cost-unit rates

JEL Classification: D61, D78, L51, R41

Suggested Citation

Schulz, Wolfgang H. and Scheler, Sebastian, Reducing the Death Toll of Road Accidents in Costa Rica through the Introduction of Roadworthiness Inspections by the Government (July 15, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3420341 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3420341

Wolfgang H. Schulz (Contact Author)

Zeppelin University ( email )

Am Seemooser Horn 20
Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance 88045
Germany
+491734638421 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.zu.de

Sebastian Scheler

Zeppelin University ( email )

Am Seemooser Horn 20
Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance 88045
Germany

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