CDC Study Finds Annual Cost of Motor Vehicle Crashes Exceeds $99 Billion

In a one-year period, the cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with injuries from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $99 billion - with the cost of direct medical care accounting for $17 billion, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The total annual cost amounts to nearly $500 for each licensed driver in the United States, said the study in the August 2010 issue of the journal Traffic Injury Prevention. See the CDC press release.

The one-year costs of fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries totaled $70 billion (71 percent of total costs) for people riding in motor vehicles, such as cars and light trucks, $12 billion for motorcyclists, $10 billion for pedestrians, and $5 billion for bicyclists, the study said.

CDC has also released a one-page fact sheet to help communities play an important role in reducing the human and economic toll of motor vehicle-related injuries by supporting prevention policies that have been shown to save lives and reduce costs.

Save Lives, Save Dollars—Prevent Motor Vehicle Related Injuries [pdf 255K] provides information about cost-effective policies to:

• Improve child passenger safety.
• Improve teen driver safety.
• Reduce alcohol-impaired driving.
• Increase safety belt use.