Road accidents have been costed since 1968 using a method devised by Dawson, R.F.F. at the TRRL, given in Laboratory Report LR 79, but revised in 1988, and has since been based on a Willingness to Pay (WTP) approach. This places a value on the avoidance of fatal injuries by estimating what individuals would be willing to pay for a small decrease in the risk of a fatal accident. At the same time as it revised its valuation of fatal casualties the Department of Transport (DOT) commissioned two major pieces of research to review the methodology for the valuation of non-fatal casualties. This article presents a summary of the revised valuations based on this research and outlines the underlying methodology of each element of the costs of road casualties. A more detailed account is presented in TRL Research Report RR 378 (see IRRD 859405). For the covering abstract of the book see IRRD 859639.
Samenvatting