THE DETERMINANTS OF TRAIN FATALITIES: KEEPING THE MODEL ON TRACK

Railroad-related fatalities can be classified into three types: trespasser fatalities, those at grade crossings and those involving passengers and employees. This paper investigates the determinants of these three types, with emphasis on how the railroad deregulation (the Staggers Act of 1980) may have affected railroad-related fatalities. Models are developed using specification error analysis and seemingly unrelated regression. Results showed that deregulation of the railroads did not appear to have contributed to fatalities. Alcohol consumption was found to be a significant contributor to trespasser as well as passenger and employee fatalities. Expenditures on safety were found to reduce railroad-related fatalities. Freight usage had a positive effect on trespasser and grade crossing fatalities, while passenger usage also significantly increased fatalities at grade crossings