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Accident Costs
Accident Costs: Details of Calculations
Tables 9a and b opposite provide the Department for Transport's estimates of the values assigned to the cost of road casualties and accidents in Great Britain in 2005, for use in cost-benefit analysis of the prevention of road casualties and accidents in road schemes.
The valuation of casualty costs calculated for Great Britain for all levels of severity are now based on a "willingness to pay human cost" approach. This is intended to encompass all aspects of the costs of casualties including both the human cost and the direct economic cost. The human cost covers an amount to reflect the pain, grief and suffering to the casualty, relatives and friends, and, for fatal casualties, the intrinsic loss of enjoyment of life over and above the consumption of goods and services. The economic cost covers loss of output due to injury and medical costs.
The cost of an accident also includes:
i. the cost of damage to vehicles and property; and
ii. the cost of police and insurance administration.
Further information about the methods used by DfT to produce the estimates shown in Table 9a and b is available from:-
Integrated Transport Economics and Appraisal Division
Department for Transport
Zone 3/04
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR
(Tel: 020 7944 6176)
The average cost per accident in Scotland and the total cost of all accidents in Scotland are given in Tables 10 and 11 opposite. These costs for Scotland are calculated using the casualty costs for Great Britain and the number of casualties by severity in accidents in Scotland. The average costs per accident for Great Britain and Scotland differ because of differences in the average numbers of casualties per accident, and the proportions of fatal and serious casualties in an accident.
Also estimated are the number of "damage only" accidents and their average costs.
The estimated total costs at 2005 prices of accidents in 2004 and earlier years are calculated by applying the relevant estimated "per casualty" and "per accident" costs for 2005 to the numbers of casualties and accidents of each type in 2004 and earlier years.
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