The economic and societal harm from car and truck crashes pile up to a staggering $871 billion each year in the United States, says a new report from the NHTSA.
Governments around the world have emphasized on safe driving by implementing new laws, but motor vehicle crashes remain a growing concern. In the United States several campaigns and laws have been put in place to prevent distracted driving. Highway crashes not only endanger lives but also cause significant grief and financial loss.
A new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has revealed some shocking statistics about car crashes in the US; they add up to a staggering $871 billion in economic costs and societal harm in just one year.
The study, which evaluated car and truck crashes in 2010, showed that in just one year there were 32,999 fatalities, 3.9 million injured and 24 million damaged vehicles. The price tag attached to the annual accidents was mainly contributed by societal harm from the loss of life and the pain and decreased quality of life due to injuries. The economical costs piled up to $277 billion, while the societal harm was pegged at $594 billion.
"We want Americans to live long and productive lives, but vehicle crashes all too often make that impossible," NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman, said in a statement. "This new report underscores the importance of our safety mission and why our efforts and those of our partners to tackle these important behavioral issues and make vehicles safer are essential to our quality of life and our economy."
The study said three driving behaviors; DUI, speeding and distracted driving, contributed majorly toward the massive losses. Collectively, all three behaviors accounted for 56 percent of the economic loss and 62 percent of societal harm to the nation.
Individually, speeding accounted for the maximum, 21 percent of the total economic loss, which translates to $59 billion, and 24 percent or $210 billion of the societal harm. As for the cases for driving under the influence of alcohol, 18 percent of the economic loss or $49 billion was due to DUIs and $199 billion or 23 percent was from societal harm. Finally, distracted driving accounted for 17 percent of the total economic loss, which cost $46 billion and societal harm came to $129 billion.
Other dangerous behaviors that were seen as a normal practice on roads included avoiding seat belts.
