COVID-19, tourism and road traffic accidents: Evidence from Greece

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the implementation of traffic and movement restrictions as governments were trying to limit the spread of the virus. Tourism has been affected by these travel restrictions. We examine the impact of curfews and the re-opening of borders on road traffic accidents. We investigate the effects of lockdown on motor vehicle collisions by analyzing recorded car accidents in 58 districts in Greece. We employ a difference-in-differences approach to compare motor vehicle collisions in 2020 with the previous five years. We reveal a decline in road traffic collisions during the curfew period (with 1617 fewer collisions). This is followed by an increase after the re-opening of borders (168 more vehicle collisions in tourist-popular areas despite the decline in tourist arrivals), compared to what would have been expected in the absence of the pandemic restrictions.Keywords: COVID-19vehicle collisionstourismdifference-in-differencesJEL CLASSIFICATION: R41Z32I18 Disclosure statementThe authors report there are no competing interests to declare.Notes1 See Adanu et al. (Citation2021), Barnes et al. (Citation2020), Brodeur et al. (Citation2021b), Doucette et al. (Citation2021), Liao and Lowry (Citation2021a), Lin et al. (Citation2020), Rudisill (Citation2021) and Qureshi et al. (Citation2020).2 See for instance Oguzoglu (Citation2020), Sekadakis et al. (Citation2021), Vandoros and Papailias (Citation2021) and Vandoros (Citation2022).3 Studies that employ DiD: Barnes et al. (Citation2020), Brodeur et al. (Citation2021b), Liao and Lowry (Citation2021b), Lin et al. (Citation2020), Oguzoglu (Citation2020) and Vandoros and Papailias (Citation2021). Studies that employ interrupted time series: Doucette et al. (Citation2021), Qureshi et al. (Citation2020), Vandoros (Citation2022).4 Section 5 provides graphic evidence of mobility reduction in Greece (see Figure 9).5 Data were sent via email from the Traffic Police on 07/02/2022.6 http://www.astynomia.gr7 http://archive.data.gov.gr/dataset/statistikh-epethrida8 https://covid19.apple.com/mobility