Estimation of the costs of traffic accidents in Turkey: an evaluation in terms of the insurance and financial system

The aim of the study is to estimate the costs of traffic accidents in Turkey and to put forward conjectural magnitude of these costs within insurance and financial system. Another purpose is to predict the non-systemic costs which are difficult to be involved in records and that are caused by accidents. Different kinds of cost elements come out as a result of traffic accidents. In this study, great effort is spent to predict the cost elements such as material damage, medical care and labour loss. The cost predictions are performed by using the data issued by Turkish Insurance Association and the data acquired by the questionnaire carried out in the city of Usak. In cost analysis conducted, it is seen that the total costs of traffic accidents occurred in 2012 is more than $4,3 billion. It is found out that insurance companies made a loss of approximately $233 million from traffic insurance operations in 2012. This decreases the contribution of insurance companies, which have significant function in financial system, to total saving volume. The total accident costs found in this study accounts for 16,37% share within insurance system, 0,36% share within financial system and 0,55% share within GDP. KeyWords : Costs of traffic accidents, Insurance, Finance, GDP Jel Codes : G21, G22, O16, R41, R42 Calismanin amaci, Turkiye'de trafik kazalarinin maliyetlerini tahmin etmek ve bu maliyetlerin sigortacilik ve finansal sistem icindeki tahmini buyuklugunu ortaya koymaktir. Calismanin diger bir amaci da, kayitlara dahil edilmesi oldukca zor olan, kazalardan dogan sistem disi maliyetleri tahmin etmektir. Trafik kazalarina bagli farkli maliyet unsurlari ortaya cikabilmektedir. Calismada; maddi hasara, tedavi ve isgucu kaybina bagli maliyet unsurlari tahmin edilmeye calisilmistir. Maliyet tahminleri Turkiye Sigorta Birligi tarafindan yayinlanan veriler ve Usak ilinde uygulanan anket calismasindan elde edilen veriler kullanilarak yapilmistir. Yapilan maliyet hesaplamalarinda, 2012 yilinda trafik kazalarinin toplam maliyetinin 4,3 Milyar ABD Dolari'nin uzerinde oldugu tahmin edilmistir. Sigorta sirketlerinin trafikle ilgili sigorta islemlerinden 2012 yilinda yaklasik 233 Milyon $ tutarinda zarar ettikleri gorulmustur. Bu da finansal sistem icinde onemli fonksiyona sahip olan sigorta sirketlerinin, toplam tasarruf hacmine yaptigi katkiyi azaltmaktadir. Calismada bulunan kaza maliyetlerinin toplami, sigortacilikta %16,37'lik paya, finansal sistem icinde % 0,36'lik paya sahipken, GSYIH icinde %0,55'lik paya sahiptir. Anahtar Kelimeler : Trafik Kaza Maliyeti, Sigorta, Finans, GSYIH Language: en