7.5 The true cost of road crashes
Road accidents kill over 1 million people each year and cost up to 3% of global GDP. Understanding the real cost of a fatality or serious injury in a particular country would allow for more informed decision making and more efficient resource allocation in road safety measures.
This research paper provides a practical, useable answer for any country seeking to save the most lives for the available budget.
The authors discuss the background to the valuation of safety benefits, including consideration of levels of income. They briefly review the main methodologies in use for the valuation of the prevention of fatalities (human capital or gross output method and willingness-to-pay method), and propose a more practical, less costly 'rule of thumb approach' that draws on existing data from a range of countries.
The paper's final section discusses a methodology for the valuation of serious injuries, and concludes by setting out recommended values of prevention for both fatalities and serious injuries as percentages of GDP per capita.
Issuing body: International Road Assessment Programme
Type: Paper
Status: Final
Title: The true cost of road crashes. Valuing life and the cost of a serious injury
File type: PDF
File size: 2.08 MB
Year of publication: Unknown
Number of pages: 12
