OFF THE WIRE
The high cost of traffic crashes
By Gary Richards
-------- 71% of costs come from cars/suvs, vs 12% from bikers . but
pedestrians are right up there (with bikers ) . . .
grichards@mercurynews.com
Aug 30:
costs of injuries from motor vehicle accidents
The cost of motor vehicle crashes averages out to nearly $500 a year for
every licensed driver in the United States in medical care and productivity
losses, according to a recent study -- costs that could be lowered if more
states implemented seat-belt, cell-phone and drunken-driving crackdowns.
The study, released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, said the cost associated with injuries from crashes exceeded $99
billion nationwide. Factor in higher insurance premiums, taxes and travel
delays and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concludes the
price tag is more than double that, at $230.6 billion.
"This study highlights the magnitude of the problem of crash-related
injuries from a cost perspective," said Grant Baldwin, director of CDC's
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, "and the numbers are
staggering."
CDC researchers used 2005 data because, at the time of the study, it
provided the most current source of national fatal and nonfatal injury and
cost data from multiple sources.
Traffic injuries and deaths have been falling, and in 2008 they were at
their lowest level since 1961. But traffic accidents remain the ninth
leading cause of deaths worldwide. By 2030, they are expected to become the
fifth leading cause of death, outranking diabetes, HIV/AIDS and hypertensive
heart disease.
The CDC report said safety gains in Europe have exceeded those in the U.S.
The blame, the study
concluded, falls on the many states that don't require helmets for
motorcyclists, lack seat belt laws that allow police to ticket people solely
for being unbuckled, lax laws involving teens and rules that fail to monitor
motorists convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Many European countries have crash death rates of 7 to 9 per 100,000 people,
which is a decline of more than 60 percent since the early 1980s. In the
United States, there are 15 to 16 fatalities per 100,000, a 35 percent
decline over the same period.
Safety advocates give the Golden State mostly good reviews on efforts to
lower those numbers.
"California has some of the best highway safety programs and laws," said
Jonathan Adkins, communications director of the Governors Highway Safety
Association, citing statewide crackdowns on cell phone use, seat-belt
compliance and sobriety checkpoints. "But there is room for improvement."
One possible improvement, he said, would be to prohibit teenagers from
driving with other teens in the car until they reach 18, instead of just the
first year they have a license.
"Seven states plus D.C. extend (teen rules) until age 18," Adkins said.
"There's research that shows that the older you extend it, the better, as it
gives the brain more time to develop and for judgment to improve."
California has been slow to require that all drunken-driving offenders use
an ignition interlock device to prevent them from driving. That idea is now
being tested in Alameda and three other counties.
The seat-belt approach in California has been one of the most successful in
the land. National insurance studies indicate that wearing safety belts cuts
the risk of auto injury or fatality in half. The message seems to have sunk
in.
Nearly 96 percent of California drivers and their passengers buckle up,
compared with 40 percent before the tougher law went into effect in 1994.
The state Office of Traffic Safety estimates that 1,300 lives a year have
been saved since 2005.
The average seat belt use in the nation is 83 percent.
To further reduce accidents, some say attention needs to be paid to
unlicensed and uninsured motorists.
"My concern is that many of these drivers don't want to be contacted by the
police for fear of a citation and/or impound," said Lt. Chris Monahan, of
the San Jose Police Department's traffic unit. "Because they are unlicensed
and uninsured, there is a high possibility they may hit and run. Those costs
are then passed on to society rather than the at-fault driver."
With Labor Day approaching, police throughout Santa Clara County are now
involved in a drunken-driving campaign. A crackdown on driving in school
zones is planned for next month, and three weeks ago, drivers using handheld
cell phones were the target during two days, with more than 2,500 tickets
issued in the nine Bay Area counties.
Drivers may see more of that.
New York and Connecticut are conducting pilot programs called "Phone in One
Hand. Ticket in the Other." These could be copied in California and
elsewhere. Congress, said Adkins, is expected to set aside more funds for
such campaigns.
"The crackdowns," he said, "are effective at raising awareness about the
dangers of distracted driving."
And, perhaps, at lowering the number of crashes and the pain they cause,
both human and financial.
Have you been in a crash? How much did it cost for auto repairs, medical
care and lost time at work? Contact Gary Richards at 408-920-5335.
Accident breakdown
Incidence and total lifetime costs of fatal and nonfatal accidents
involving motor vehicles:
Mercury News
Category
Percent of injuries
Percent of costs
Motor vehicle occupants
76% Percent of injuries
71% Percent of costs
Motorcyclists
6% Percent of injuries
12% Percent of costs
Pedes-
trians
5% Percent of injuries
10% Percent of costs
Bicyclists
13% Percent of injuries
6% Percent of costs
Ages 15-24
28% Percent of injuries
31% Percent of costs
Source: Centers for Disease Control
Mercury News
http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_15917221
