Fraccidents: The Ostensible Link Between Oil and Gas Development and Car Accidents in Post-Shale Boom Texas Counties
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Date
2017-12
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Abstract
New developments in the exploration of unconventional Oil and Gas (O&G) resources have become an energy industry trend. Nevertheless, there are underlying environmental and socio-economic impacts attributed to “fracking”, which could strain public resources and local transportation networks. From 2012 to 2016, a quarter-fold increase in the number of producing wells occurred simultaneously with a 29 percent increase in total car crashes as well. This study explores the purported link between O&G development and car crashes using Texas county-level panel data. Despite this anticipated relationship, the results presented a tenuous relationship between the two. However, the overall magnitude of the relationship between O&G development and car crashes improves upon the existing literature. The research also maintains that there is still an emerging opportunity for future scholarship and policy formulation regarding O&G development and its residual impacts on public safety and quality of life among other communities of interest.
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oil and gas, public safety, transportation, energy