The Effect of Speed Fines in Mexico City

Abstract

The objective of this work is the evaluation of the effects on road incidents of the programs of speed fines implemented
in Mexico City (CDMX). We provide empirical evidence on the impact on traffic events of the Photo Fine Program and the
subsequent program (called Fotocívicas), which started in April 2019. The changes of the latter were the relocation of the cameras
and the nature of the sanctions: they went from being common fines to mandatory participation in civic education courses and
community services. The analysis of both programs was based on the road reports recorded by the Command, Computation,
Communications and Citizen Contact Center of the CDMX (C5). After estimating the effectiveness of speed fines, we used
a quasi-experimental impact assessment method known as difference in differences (DiD) to determine whether the effect
of the programs on road safety was statistically significant. In short, this work contributes to scientifically rigorous critiques
of public road safety policies in the Latin American context. This analysis allows to know the scope of government actions,
in order to generate proposals for improvement, in addition to raising the level of public discussion.