Crashes cost drivers $164 billion a year, study finds

A study revealed that crashes cost drivers in the Twin Cities an average of $757 per person while congestion costs the average person $426.

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: March 5, 2008 - 11:57 AM

Do traffic jams or accidents cost society more? According to the national motoring club AAA, vehicle crashes cost society twice as much as congestion.

The results of a landmark study called "Crashes vs. Congestion -- What's the Cost to Society?" found that motor vehicle crashes cost American drivers nearly $165 billion annually, nearly 2 1/2 times the $67.6 billion it costs drivers sitting in traffic on vehicle-clogged roads.

The study released today said total costs to society are an average of $1,051 per person each year compared with the $430 price tag for congestion.

"Most Americans will be surprised to learn that motor vehicle crashes cost more than the congestion they face on their daily commute to work," said AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet.

The report demonstrates that traffic safety concerns more than gridlock warrant attention from congressional leaders and public policy makers as Congress prepares to authorize federal transportation programs for 2009.

To arrive at its nearly $165 billion figure for vehicle crashes, researchers tallied up costs for police and emergency services, medical expenses, lost wages and legal fees.

Those figures were compared with costs associated with congestion -- lost productivity and fuel waste.

The findings revealed that crashes cost drivers in the Twin Cities an average of $757 per person while congestion costs the average person $426.

Crashes cost an average of $1,439 a person in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, $1,368 a person in the Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale, Ariz. area, $1,058 a person in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash., region, $887 a person in the Chicago metropolitan area, $868 a person in the Detroit metropolitan region and $658 a person in the San Francisco Bay area.

Researchers found that residents of smaller cities faced a larger per-person burden. Crashes in the Little Rock-North Little Rock region in Arkansas cost $1.4 billion, or $2,258 per person, while car wrecks carried a price tag of $1,772 a person around Pensacola, Fla., and $1,568 a person in Columbia, S. C.

In terms of congestion, drivers in the Los Angeles area were affected most, paying $744 a year on average. The cost is $618 annually for drivers in Dallas, $583 in San Francisco, $588 in San Diego, $486 in Baltimore, $258 in Salt Lake City and $78 in Spokane, Wash.

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