• 03
  • November
    2011

As Larry Copeland reports for USA Today, $6 million represents the cost of one motor vehicle fatality. A new report by AAA compares the cost of car crashes to traffic congestion - and discovers that car crashes cost three times that of congestion (wasted time, gas, etc.).

Copeland reports that a car wreck involving only injuries, however, costs $126,000.

So what goes into the nearly $300 billion total figure for all car wreck costs? AAA used more than 10 different factors, including:

  • Damage to property
  • Lost wages/income
  • Medical treatment and rehabilitation
  • Attorney fees
  • Pain and suffering

AAA's report is an attempt to "bang the drum on safety," says AAA director of federal relations Chris Plaushin. "We wanted to raise the profile and raise the awareness. Right now, it's jobs, it's construction, it's economic growth that are being talked about." This is at a time when Congress is looking at developing a major funding bill for the nation's highways.

After all, Copeland reports that car wrecks are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of five and 34.

Source: USA Today, "AAA: Fatal motor vehicle crash costs $6 million," by Larry Copeland, 11/3/11