Since 1988, the Department of Transport has used a Willingness to Pay approach to value road accident fatalities by considering what people would be willing to pay to reduce the risk of being killed in a road accident. The value of non-fatal accidents has continued to be based on a Human Capital approach. The methods used for costing accidents are being revised so that non-fatal accidents are costed in a comparatable way to fatal accidents, and to ensure that the costs are based on up-to-date information about the consequences of road accidents. The report summarizes TRL research on casualty-related costs: the distribution of injury severity among casualties with 'serious' and 'slight' injuries, studies of the value of avoidance of road accident injuries, and estimates of the lost contribution to the economy which result from road accident injuries. The report presents revised estimates of the average cost per casualty; a further report will consider accident-related costs. The implications of the revised costs for total accident costs and their application to cost benefit analysis of road schemes and road safety measures are discussed, and comparisons are made with accident costing in other countries. (A)
Abstract