< Back to Previous Page
Economic Costs Of Motor Vehicle Crashes
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes cost society $4,800 per second. Deaths, injuries, and property damages due to these crashes are not only a major cause of personal suffering and financial loss to the victims, their families, and friends, but also to society at large. NHTSA estimates that in 1994 the economic cost of motor vehicle crashes was $150.5 billion. Included in this amount are lost productivity, legal and court costs, medical and emergency service costs, insurance administration costs, travel delay, property damage, and workplace losses.
Motor vehicle crashes affect both the individual crash victims and society as a whole in a number of ways. The cost of medical care, for example, is borne by the individual through payments for expenses not covered by insurance and by society through higher insurance premiums and the diversion of medical resources away from other needs. Considerable costs are also associated with the loss of productivity when an individual’s life is claimed at an early age or when a crash results in a disabling injury.
Of the total economic loss of $150.5 billion, medical costs were responsible for $17 billion, property losses for $52.1 billion, lost productivity (both market and household) was $54.7 billion, and other costs were $26.6 billion (figure 1). The largest single cost component is property damage, which accounted for over one-third of total economic costs. The high cost of property damage is primarily a function of the large number of minor crashes in which injury is either insignificant or nonexistent.
If you have experienced personal injuries or substantial income loss as a result of an automobile accident, the lawyers or law firms in Auto Accident Lawyers.com are here to give you a free case review and to fight for you in court.
Contact our Auto Accident Lawyers and Obtain a Free Case Evaluation.
| 
