Professional Documents
Culture Documents
High
claims Legalizing recreational
marijuana use is linked
to increase in crashes
15%
10%
5%
0%
Colorado Washington Oregon combined
1981 to 2017 model vehicles. Analysts controlled for differences in Key dates for laws in study states
the rated driver population, insured vehicle fleet, the mix of urban Colorado was first with retail sales of recreational marijuana
versus rural exposure, unemployment, weather and seasonality.
Collision claims are the most frequent kind of claims insurers re- Colorado Washington Oregon
ceive. Collision coverage insures against physical damage to a driv- Vote November 2012 November 2012 November 2014
ers vehicle in a crash with an object or other vehicle, generally when Retail sales January 2014 July 2014 October 2015
the driver is at fault. Collision claim frequency is the number of colli-
sion claims divided by the number of insured vehicle years (one vehi-
cle insured for one year or two vehicles insured for six months each). U.S. marijuana laws
The combined-state analysis shows that the first three states to le- States with some form of legalized marijuana use as of June 2017
galize recreational marijuana have experienced more crashes, says
Matt Moore, senior vice president of HLDI. The individual state WA VT NH ME
analyses suggest that the size of the effect varies by state. MT ND MN
Colorado saw the biggest estimated increase in claim fre- OR
ID SD WI NY MA
quency compared with its control states. After retail marijuana WY MI RI
PA
sales began in Colorado, the increase in collision claim frequen- NV
NE IA IL IN OH CT
cy was 14 percent higher than in nearby Nebraska, Utah and UT WV VA NJ
CO
CA KS MO KY DE
Wyoming. Washingtons estimated increase in claim frequency NC
TN MD
was 6.2 percent higher than in Montana and Idaho, and Oregons AZ NM OK AR SC DC
estimated increase in claim frequency was 4.5 percent higher than MS AL GA
in Idaho, Montana and Nevada. LA
TX
The combined effect for the three states was smaller but still sig-
FL
nificant at 3 percent, Moore says. The combined analysis uses a
bigger control group and is a good representation of the effect of AK
marijuana legalization overall. The single-state analyses show how
the effect differs by state.
Each of the individual state analyses also showed that the estimat- HI
ed effect of legalizing recreational use of marijuana varies depending
on the comparison state examined. For example, results for Colo- all uses legal medical marijuana legal
rado vary from a 3 percent rise in claim frequency when compared limited medical marijuana legal enacted since November 2016
prevention, most of the lane maintenance Reluctance to use lane maintenance sys- lane departure alerts or retake control after
systems studied could be deactivated with tems is only one possible factor influencing an active system brings the vehicle back to
the push of a button. The Volvo XC90s active the effectiveness of these systems. Another the lane (see Status Report, Sept. 1, 2016).
lane-keeping system had a much higher IIHS study found that incapacitation plays a For a copy of Crash avoidance and
than average observed use rate of 86 percent. role in one-third of lane-drift crashes. The driver assistance technologies are they
To turn the system off, drivers must navigate finding raised questions about whether driv- used? by I.J. Reagan et al., email publica-
to a menu and go through several steps. ers would be able to adequately respond to tions@iihs.org. n
followed the same pattern but had lower other large luxury cars, HLDI found. The Estimated collision losses
claim severities compared with the Versa. other electric vehicles in the study logged Electric vs. conventional counterparts
In comparison, the Model S had higher 11-12 fewer miles per day than their con-
claim frequencies, higher claim severities ventional counterparts. 120% 7 electric models
and higher overall losses than other large Higher claim severities relate to how Nissan Leaf
luxury cars. Under collision coverage, for pricey it is to repair collision damage rel- 80% Tesla Model S
example, analysts estimated that the Model ative to average estimates. Electric vehicles
Ss mileage-adjusted claim frequency was 37 in general are more expensive than their 40%
percent higher than the comparison group, gasoline-powered cousins. The average
claim severity was 64 percent higher, and base price of an electric vehicle in HLDIs 0%
overall losses were 124 percent higher. analysis is about 79 percent higher than it is
Electric vehicles as a class arent known for a conventional counterpart. The Leaf s -40%
claim claim overall
for their speed, but thats not the case with base price, for example, is 117 percent frequency severity losses
the Model S. Tesla calls it the quickest pro- higher than the Versa, while the Model Ss
duction car in the world in promotion- base price is 33 percent higher than that of The Model S had higher collision claim
al literature. Car enthusiast reviews of the a conventional large luxury car. frequencies, severities and overall losses
Model S seldom fail to mention how fast it For a copy of HLDI Bulletin Vol. 33, No. than other large luxury cars. The Nissan
accelerates from 0 to 60 mph. 4 Insurance losses comparison of elec- Leafs losses were lower than the gasoline-
Teslas also are on the road more than tric vehicles and their conventional coun- powered Versa. The 7 electric-series mod-
comparable large luxury cars. On average, terparts while adjusting for mileage, email els had lower claim frequencies but higher
Teslas travel three more miles per day than publications@iihs.org. n severities than conventional cars.
Status Report
Legalizing recreational use of marijuana IIHS is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses deaths, injuries and
property damage from motor vehicle crashes.
is linked to increase in crashes42
HLDI shares and supports this mission through scientific studies of insurance data representing the human and economic losses
Lane maintenance systems are still resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehicles and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make
unpopular with vehicle owners46 and model.
Tesla Model S has higher losses than other Both organizations are wholly supported by the following auto insurers and funding associations:
electric vehicles or luxury cars46
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