This paper estimates the economic cost of traffic accidents in Singapore so that further investments in road safety research and road accident prevention can be better evaluated. The Gross Output method is chosen in the analysis. It takes into account the loss of current and future resources resulting from accident occurrence as well as medical, administration, property damage costs and human costs of suffering. The study shows that at 1999 prices, the cost per traffic fatality is S$1.273 million (S$1=US$0.56) while that of a serious injury and a slight injury is S$163,000 and S$12,000 respectively. The total economic cost of road accidents for 1999 is S$976.6 million which is about 0.7% of the Gross Domestic Product. These conservative estimates should assist the relevant authorities to consider increasing funding for road safety research as well as road accident prevention programs. For the covering abstract see ITRD E120462.
Samenvatting