CDC Study Finds Annual Cost of Motor Vehicle Crashes Exceeds $99 Billion

/PRNewswire/ -- In a one-year period, the cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with injuries from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $99 billion - with the cost of direct medical care accounting for $17 billion, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The total annual cost amounts to nearly $500 for each licensed driver in the United States, said the study in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

The one-year costs of fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries totaled $70 billion (71 percent of total costs) for people riding in motor vehicles, such as cars and light trucks, $12 billion for motorcyclists, $10 billion for pedestrians, and $5 billion for bicyclists, the study said.

CDC researchers used 2005 data because, at the study time, it provided the most current source of national fatal and non-fatal injury and cost data from multiple sources.

"Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States is treated in an emergency department for crash-related injuries, and nearly 40,000 people die from these injuries each year. This study highlights the magnitude of the problem of crash-related injuries from a cost perspective, and the numbers are staggering," said Dr. Grant Baldwin, director of CDC's Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

The study also found:

-- Costs related to fatal motor vehicle-related injuries totaled $58
billion. The cost of non-fatal injuries resulting in hospitalization
amounted to $28 billion, and the cost of injuries to people treated in
emergency departments and released was $14 billion. More men were
killed (70 percent) and injured (52 percent) in motor vehicle crashes
than women. Injuries and deaths among men represented 74 percent ($74
billion) of all costs. Teens and young adults made up 28 percent of
all fatal and nonfatal motor vehicle injuries and 31 percent of the
costs ($31 billion). These young people represented only 14 percent of
the U.S. population.
-- Motorcyclists made up 6 percent of all fatalities and injuries but 12
percent of the costs, likely due to the severity of their injuries.
Pedestrians, who have no protection when they are hit by vehicles and
are also often severely injured, made up 5 percent of all injuries but
10 percent of total costs.


Motor vehicle crash injuries and deaths and the associated costs are preventable. CDC's Injury Center supports proven, effective strategies for prevention such as:

-- Graduated driver licensing (GDL) policies: these laws allow new teen
drivers to get experience on the road in lower-risk situations as they
gain experience over time and are proven to reduce teen crashes.
Strong GDL laws have been associated with up to 40 percent decreases
in crashes among 16-year-old drivers.
-- Child safety seat distribution and education programs: increased use
of correctly installed and fitted child safety seats could help reduce
the $3.6 billion annual bill for injuries to children, the cost number
found in this study.
-- Primary seat belt laws: these laws allow motorists to be stopped and
cited for not wearing seat belts. Seat belts reduce the risk of death
to those riding in the front seat by about half.
-- Enhanced seat belt enforcement programs: Enhanced enforcement programs
in which law enforcement officers focus on getting people to buckle up
(e.g.: Click It or Ticket), are effective at increasing safety belt
use and reducing deaths and injuries.
-- Motorcycle and bicycle helmet laws: helmets can reduce the risk of
death in a motorcycle crash by more than one-third and reduce the risk
of brain injury by 69 percent.
-- Sobriety checkpoints: these checkpoints, where drivers are stopped to
assess their level of alcohol impairment, can reduce alcohol-related
crash deaths by more than 20 percent.

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Majority of People Killed in Teen Crashes are Passengers and Other Drivers - Not Teen Drivers

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The majority of people killed in teen driver crashes continue to be people other than teen drivers themselves, according to an updated analysis of 10 years of crash data by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The analysis shows that about one-third of people killed in crashes involving drivers ages 15 to 17 are teen drivers themselves. Nearly two-thirds are passengers, occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users.

"For every teen driver killed in a crash, almost twice as many other people die, which underscores the link between teen driver safety and the safety of everyone on the road," said AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet.

Nationally, between 1998 and 2007, crashes involving 15-, 16- and 17-year-old drivers killed 28,138 people, of whom 10,388 (36.9%) were teen drivers themselves. The remaining 17,750 (63.1%) deaths included 8,829 passengers of the teen drivers, 6,858 occupants of other vehicles operated by adult drivers, and 2,063 non-motorists and others. A previous analysis in 2006 found that between 1995 and 2004, crashes involving 15-, 16- and 17-year-old drivers claimed the lives of 30,917 people, of whom 36.2 percent were teen drivers themselves and 63.6 percent were others.

"Young drivers face an array of potentially deadly challenges at the wheel," said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. "Parents and teens need to understand the serious responsibility of driving and the risks and consequences involved."

AAA points to the drop in both teen driver deaths and the larger drop in deaths of others during the last decade as evidence that improving teen driver safety benefits all road users.

"During the last decade, as states improved their teen licensing systems and AAA has helped parents get more involved, we have seen reductions in teen driver deaths and even larger reductions in the number of other people killed," said Darbelnet. "Clearly, measures put into place to save teen drivers help us all."

AAA continues to call for comprehensive graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems that let new teen drivers gain experience under less-risky conditions. States with comprehensive GDL systems have been shown to reduce deaths among 16-year-old drivers by 38 percent. Forty-nine state GDL systems fall short of AAA guidelines.

AAA also encourages parents to play the leading role in developing their teen driver through regular dialogue, selecting a quality driving school, using a parent-teen driving agreement, extensive practice driving, and choosing a safe vehicle for their teen.

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