The main objective of the washington area motor vehicle accident cost study was to determine direct costs of motor vehicle accidents and incidents in 12 months /april 1964- march 1965/. included were detailed analyses of number of involvements and direct costs of reported accidents related to pertinent variables of the highway, vehicle, driver, general environment, and the main issue, the accident. The cost of motor vehicle accidents may be represented by the money value of damages and losses to persons and property plus expenditures in connection with the accident potential. It is immaterial whether damages are repaired or losses recovered. In practice, costs must be classified as either or direct or indirect costs. This study was concerned only with costs, directly attributable to specific accidents. However, the elements of measured direct costs included both the present value of loss of future earnings of persons fatally injured or permanently impaired and funeral expensives. The former element was found to have a very substantial effect on accident costs. These cost data developed will permit more objective interpretation of generally available accident data for the purposes of highway design and traffic control. Findings will have direct applications in economic analyses of route improvements, accident location studies, highway sufficiency ratings, and as a guide for enforcement and safety education programs. (Author/publisher)
Abstract