Well-Being And Road Accident Mortality – Is There A Link?

Road mortality is a global public policy/health challenge. Its abatement has repeatedly been included in the global/local development targets, but has never been achieved as planned, neither at the international nor at the local level. There are a number of traditional factors identified (infrastructure, legislation, enforcement, etc.), which are being addressed by all countries with varying degrees of success. However, it is likely that there are also other factors at play, which are not sufficiently explored/addressed. In this study, we attempted to look into a possible link between subjective well-being (SWB) and road accident deaths using a regression of panel data covering 133 countries during the period from 2010 to 2019. Control variables include a number of factors known to be relevant to road safety, such as per capita GDP, road density, number of motor vehicles, health expenditures, and rule of law. The results do not confirm the traditional “happy drivers are better drivers” belief, but further research will be necessary to better understand the linkages between SWB and more immediate emotions that may affect driving behaviour. In addition to the ‘traditional’ road safety realm, the findings, albeit negative, could also be useful for the development of intelligent driving assistance systems and driver behaviour models as a vital component of autonomous driving solutions that will largely shape the future of automotive transport and road safety.