NATIONAL COST OF ROAD CRASHES
WRECK-LESS DRIVING©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
WAHKIAKUM, WA: “Just how much do road crashes cost our Country each year”, asks Stuart K. Excellent question. Adding up what individuals pay directly, insurance payouts, and costs absorbed by hospitals and governments it cost us more than $200 billion a year. Medical expenses are $21billion, lost wages and production are $70 billion, and vehicle damage is more than $46 billion. Current crash data will show much higher costs because of the greater number of crashes and inflation.
Guess who eventually pays all of this? You and me in higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, and higher cost for the necessities and luxuries we buy. To be sure, those involved in the crashes pay a high price in injuries, death, and, too infrequently, with jail time. But the principals in these crashes can not begin to pay the monetary costs they have caused, so all of us have to bail them out.
Because most crashes are not accidents but the result of driver’s mistakes it would benefit each and every one of us if we could train and retrain motorists of all ages to be safer drivers. Such training is available for the youngest (high school) and oldest (50+) drivers. Driver education in high school is a once and done opportunity. From there to age 50 little retraining is available. A few state legislators have decreed that all licensed drivers who complete a safe driving course must receive an additional insurance premium reduction for several years. Then the classes have to be renewed. Most of the 36 states and DC who mandate such a discount restrict it to those over age 55. More than 10 million seniors have taken advantage of this discount offer.
In the states where such an incentive is not offered relatively few older drivers take these classroom refresher programs. All it takes is 8 hours every few years to be a safer driver. Statistically, those who complete such a course have measurably fewer fatal and injury crashes and fewer moving violation convictions. But give them a insurance premium discount and they flock in by the millions. Make sense to you?
GHD216 all rights reserved
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
WAHKIAKUM, WA: “Just how much do road crashes cost our Country each year”, asks Stuart K. Excellent question. Adding up what individuals pay directly, insurance payouts, and costs absorbed by hospitals and governments it cost us more than $200 billion a year. Medical expenses are $21billion, lost wages and production are $70 billion, and vehicle damage is more than $46 billion. Current crash data will show much higher costs because of the greater number of crashes and inflation.
Guess who eventually pays all of this? You and me in higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, and higher cost for the necessities and luxuries we buy. To be sure, those involved in the crashes pay a high price in injuries, death, and, too infrequently, with jail time. But the principals in these crashes can not begin to pay the monetary costs they have caused, so all of us have to bail them out.
Because most crashes are not accidents but the result of driver’s mistakes it would benefit each and every one of us if we could train and retrain motorists of all ages to be safer drivers. Such training is available for the youngest (high school) and oldest (50+) drivers. Driver education in high school is a once and done opportunity. From there to age 50 little retraining is available. A few state legislators have decreed that all licensed drivers who complete a safe driving course must receive an additional insurance premium reduction for several years. Then the classes have to be renewed. Most of the 36 states and DC who mandate such a discount restrict it to those over age 55. More than 10 million seniors have taken advantage of this discount offer.
In the states where such an incentive is not offered relatively few older drivers take these classroom refresher programs. All it takes is 8 hours every few years to be a safer driver. Statistically, those who complete such a course have measurably fewer fatal and injury crashes and fewer moving violation convictions. But give them a insurance premium discount and they flock in by the millions. Make sense to you?
GHD216 all rights reserved
posted by WRECK-LESS at Monday, September 08, 2008
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