Social costs of road crashes and injuries 2009

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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 2009 prices, of:

• average social cost per injury and per crash
• total social cost of road crashes and injuries in 2008
• annual total social cost of road crashes and injuries for the years from 1997 to 2008.

The social cost information provided in this report helps to ensure consistent  review assessment 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 2009 prices are summarised in Table S1. 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 2009 prices ($)
Per crash (Note)	Fatal	Serious	Minor
Loss of life/permanent disability	4,085,200	410,400	17,900
Loss of output (temporary disability)	800	1,800	400
Medical	13,700	16,200	1,100
Legal and Court	14,400	3,100	600
Property damage	10,100	6,400	5,100
Total	4,124,200	437,800	25,000
Per injury (Note)	Fatal	Serious	Minor
Loss of life/permanent disability	3,504,900	350,500	14,000
Loss of output (temporary disability)	0	1,400	300
Medical	6,200	13,700	800
Legal and Court	11,700	2,500	500
Property damage	5,600	3,900	4,000
Total	3,528,400	372,000	19,600

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	2,600	2,800	2,500

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 2009 prices, by severity and area. These costs are after adjusting for the level of non-reporting. The slight differences between the estimates for rural and urban areas are due to the differences in the average crash severity, and the average number of injuries involved in these crashes. 

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

	June 2009 prices ($)
Per reported crash (Note)	All areas	Rural	Urban
Fatal	4,124,000	4,260,000	3,775,000
Serious	756,000	820,000	699,000
Minor	85,000	91,000	82,000
Per reported injury (Note)	All areas	Rural	Urban
Fatal	3,528,000	3,528,000	3,528,000
Serious	625,000	633,000	617,000
Minor	64,000	63,000	64,000

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

 

Total social cost of road crashes and injuries in 2008

The total social cost of motor vehicle injury crashes in 2008 is estimated at approximately $3.7 billion (down from $4 billion in 2007) at June 2009 prices. This estimate includes both reported and non-reported casualties.

The breakdowns by injury severity are:

• $1.29 billion for fatalities
• $1.59 billion for serious injuries
• $0.81 billion for minor injuries.

Figure S1 shows loss of life and/or life quality due to permanent impairments accounted for approximately 91 percent of the total social cost of injury crashes. Property damage accounted for around 5 percent, and other cost components made up the remaining 4 percent.



In addition, there are an estimated 263,500 property-damage-only crashes valued at a further $0.7 billion. This means the total social cost of all motor vehicle crashes in 2008 is estimated to have been $4.4 billion (down from $4.7 billion in 2007).

 

Annual total social cost of road crashes and injuries for the years from 1997 to 2008

Figure S2 and Table S4 show the trend of the estimated annual total social cost of injury crashes for the years from 1997 to 2008. This shows the total social cost of road injuries has been relatively static between 2001 and 2007. In 2008, the large reduction in the number of fatalities (from 422 in 2007 to 366 in 2008) has resulted in a noticeable drop in the total social cost.



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

Table S4: Total social cost of road crashes and injuries, at June 2009 prices

Year	Injuries ($b June 2009 prices)			Crashes ($b June 2009 prices)
	Fatal	Serious	Minor	Fatal	Serious	Minor	Property damage only
1997	$1.91	$1.83	$0.75	$1.93	$1.75	$0.66	$0.57
1998	$1.77	$1.80	$0.78	$1.79	$1.75	$0.69	$0.60
1999	$1.79	$1.83	$0.74	$1.79	$1.76	$0.65	$0.57
2000	$1.63	$1.69	$0.68	$1.58	$1.64	$0.61	$0.53
2001	$1.61	$1.52	$0.62	$1.63	$1.46	$0.55	$0.48
2002	$1.43	$1.64	$0.70	$1.50	$1.61	$0.65	$0.56
2003	$1.63	$1.50	$0.75	$1.67	$1.45	$0.71	$0.61
2004	$1.54	$1.53	$0.74	$1.55	$1.50	$0.70	$0.61
2005	$1.43	$1.57	$0.79	$1.41	$1.55	$0.75	$0.65
2006	$1.38	$1.62	$0.82	$1.43	$1.62	$0.75	$0.67
2007	$1.49	$1.67	$0.85	$1.55	$1.61	$0.82	$0.71
2008	$1.29	$1.59	$0.81	$1.37	$1.58	$0.78	$0.68

Note: This table includes allowances for non-reported cases.
 
Technical queries and comments on this report should be referred to:

Financial and Economic Analysis Team
Ministry of Transport
PO Box 3175
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

Email: info@transport.govt.nz
Tel: +64 4 439 9000
Fax: +64 4 439 9003