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Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes - 2000 |
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A recent report issued by the National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates that the economic impact of motor vehicle crashes in 2000 was $230.6 billion. This figure represents the present value of lifetime costs for 41,821 fatalities, 5.3 million non-fatal injuries, and 28 million damaged vehicles. Lost market productivity accounted for $61 billion of this total, while property damage accounted for nearly as much - $59 billion. Medical expenses totaled $32.6 billion and travel delay accounted for $25.6 billion. Each fatality resulted in an average discounted lifetime of $977,000. |
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Public
revenues paid for roughly 9 percent of all motor vehicle crash
costs, costing tax payers $21 billion in 2000, the equivalent of
more than $200 in added taxes for every household in the Alcohol-involved
crashes accounted for $51.1 billion or 22 percent of all
economic costs, and 75 percent of these costs occurred in
crashes where a driver had a BAC of .10 or greater.
In roughly 80 percent of these cases, alcohol was the
cause of the crash. Crashes
in which excessive speeds were involved cost $40.4 billion in
2000. Safety belt
use prevented 11,900 fatalities, 325,000 serious injuries, and
$50 billion in injury related costs in 2000.
The failure to buckle up caused 9,200 unnecessary
fatalities, 143,000 serious injuries, and cost society $26
billion in easily preventable injury related costs. Values
for more intangible consequences such as physical pain or lost
quality of life are not included in these estimates, but are
discussed separately in Appendix A of this report. DOT HS 809 466 is available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). |
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