Social cost of road crashes

Each year just under 1,800 people die and around 30,000 require hospital treatment after crashes on Australian roads. This is despite the best efforts of government, industry, community groups and road users in promoting road safety and the use of safety equipment. When this loss is considered, in combination with the resultant damage to property and the cost of social infrastructure necessary to deal with road crashes, it is clear that a considerable cost burden is placed on society. Determining the extent of this cost and its components allows a better understanding of the economic benefits of activities to reduce the incidence and severity of road crashes. This paper provides a discussion of the methodology used in the BTE's latest estimates, which are based on 1996 road crash patterns and will be released later this year. The data used in estimating the number of crashes and people injured are examined, as are two of the major cost elements - lost quality of life and travel delay costs - the estimation of which has benefited from improvements in methodology.