Road accidents have been the subject of innumerable research reports, books, newspaper articles, road safety publicity campaigns and emotional outbursts, but rarely has anyone attempted to set down the social cost of collisions to the community. This study takes a cold hard look at them and concludes that significant savings in costs can be made by taking some inexpensive steps in the reorganisation of the third party insurance system. The book offers a caution to those who feel that vehicle design and road reconstruction can succeed in greatly reducing the numbers or severity of accidents or injuries. By examining the costs of accidents in detail the book indicates the relative importance of vehicle damage, hospital and medical costs, legal costs, lost earnings. It also compares these costs with the costs of road transport. The careful piecing together of the cost information indicates that a national inquiry into road accidents and in particular into third party insurance is overdue. (Author/publisher)
Abstract