Overview - The Social Cost of Road Crashes and Injuries June 2008 update

This is an annual update of the Social Cost of Road Crashes and Injuries published by the Ministry of Transport.

The social cost of road crashes and injuries is a measure of the total cost of road crashes to the nation. It includes loss of life and life quality, loss of productivity, medical, legal and court and property damage costs.

This report provides estimates, at June 2008 prices, of:

• average social cost per injury and per crash
• total social cost of road crashes and injuries in 2007
• annual total social cost of road crashes and injuries for the years from 1997 to 2007.

The social cost information provided in this report facilitates consistent appraisal of the safety benefits from the prevention of road crashes and injuries.

Average social cost per injury and per crash

The average social costs per crash and per injury, by cost component and severity, at June 2008 prices, are summarised in Table S1, which shows the updated value of statistical life (VOSL) is $3.35 million per fatality. Table S2 shows the average social cost per property damage-only (PDO) crash. These estimates have not been adjusted for the level of non-reporting.

Table S1: Average social cost per crash and per injury, by cost component

June 2008 prices ($)
Per crash (Note)	Fatal	Serious	Minor
Loss of life/permanent disability	4,002,000	393,200	17,200
Loss of output (temporary disability)	800	1,700	400
Medical	13,800	15,800	1,000
Legal and Court	13,400	2,900	600
Property damage	9,600	6,100	4,900
Total	4,039,500	419,700	24,000
Per injury (Note)
Loss of life/permanent disability	3,352,400	335,200	13,400
Loss of output (temporary disability)	0	1,400	300
Medical	6,100	13,400	800
Legal and Court	10,500	2,300	500
Property damage	5,000	3,600	3,800
Total	3,374,100	355,900	18,800

Notes:
1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.
2. These estimates have NOT been adjusted for the level of non-reporting.

Table S2: Average social cost per property damage-only crash

Per PDO crash (Note)	All areas	Rural	Urban
Property damage only	2,500	2,700	2,300

Note:  These estimates have NOT been adjusted for the level of non-reporting.

Table S3 summarises the average social costs per reported crash and per reported injury, at June 2008 prices, by severity and area after adjusting for the level of non-reporting. There are slight differences between the estimates for rural and urban areas due to the differences in the average crash severity and the average number of injuries per crash.

Table S3: Average social cost per injury crash and per injury

June 2008 prices ($)
Per reported crash (Note)	All areas	Rural	Urban
Fatal	4,039,000	4,199,000	3,635,000
Serious	717,000	776,000	659,000
Minor	84,000	90,000	81,000
Per reported injury (Note)
Fatal	3,374,000	3,374,000	3,374,000
Serious	591,000	598,000	582,000
Minor	62,000	61,000	63,000

Note:  These estimates have been adjusted for the level of non-reporting.

Total social cost of road crashes and injuries in 2007

The total social cost of motor vehicle injury crashes in 2007 is estimated at approximately $3.83 billion (up from $3.65 billion in 2006) at June 2008 prices. This estimate includes both reported and non-reported casualties. The breakdowns by injury severity are: $1.42 billion for fatalities; $1.57 billion for serious injuries; and $0.84 billion for minor injuries.  Figure S1 shows loss of life and/or life quality due to permanent impairments accounted for approximately 91% of the total social cost of injury crashes. Property damage accounted for around 5% and other cost components made up the remaining 4%.

In addition, there are an estimated 281,500 property-damage-only crashes valued at a further $0.7 billion. Therefore, the total social cost of all motor vehicle crashes in 2007 is estimated to have been $4.5 billion (up from $4.3 billion in 2006).

Annual total social cost of road crashes and injuries for the years from 1997 to 2007

Figure S2 and Table S4 show the trend of the estimated annual total social cost of injury crashes for the years from 1997 to 2007. The decrease during 1997-2001 has levelled out in recent years.

Note: This chart includes allowances for non-reported injuries.

Table S4: Total social cost of road injuries, at June 2008 prices

Year	Injuries ($b June 2008 prices)
	F	S	M
1997	$1.82	$1.75	$0.72
1998	$1.70	$1.73	$0.74
1999	$1.71	$1.76	$0.71
2000	$1.56	$1.63	$0.65
2001	$1.54	$1.46	$0.59
2002	$1.36	$1.57	$0.67
2003	$1.56	$1.44	$0.72
2004	$1.47	$1.46	$0.71
2005	$1.37	$1.49	$0.76
2006	$1.32	$1.55	$0.78
2007	$1.42	$1.57	$0.84

Note: This table includes allowances for non-reported cases. 
 

Table S4: Total social cost of road crashes, at June 2008 prices

Year	Crashes ($b June 2008 prices)
	F	S	M	PDO
1997	$1.89	$1.68	$0.72	$0.54
1998	$1.75	$1.68	$0.74	$0.57
1999	$1.75	$1.69	$0.71	$0.54
2000	$1.55	$1.58	$0.65	$0.50
2001	$1.60	$1.40	$0.59	$0.46
2002	$1.47	$1.54	$0.67	$0.54
2003	$1.63	$1.38	$0.72	$0.58
2004	$1.52	$1.43	$0.71	$0.58
2005	$1.38	$1.49	$0.76	$0.62
2006	$1.40	$1.55	$0.78	$0.64
2007	$1.52	$1.57	$0.84	$0.69

Note: This table includes allowances for non-reported cases. 

Technical queries and comments on this report should be referred to:

Transport Monitoring
Strategy and Sustainability
Ministry of Transport
PO Box 3175
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

Email: info@transport.govt.nz
Tel: +64 4 439 9000
Fax: +64 4 439 9002



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