Scottish Government

Accident Costs: Details of Calculations

Tables 9a and b provide the Department for Transport's estimates of the values assigned to the cost of road casualties and accidents in Great Britain in 2007, for use in cost-benefit analysis of the prevention of road casualties and accidents in road schemes.

The valuation of casualty costs calculated for Great Britain for all levels of severity are based on a willingness to pay human cost approach. This is intended to encompass all aspects of the costs of casualties including both the human cost and the direct economic cost.

Types of Costs

The human cost covers an amount to reflect the pain, grief and suffering to the casualty, relatives and friends, and, for fatal casualties, the intrinsic loss of enjoyment of life over and above the consumption of goods and services. The economic cost covers loss of output due to injury and medical costs.

The cost of an accident also includes:

• the cost of damage to vehicles and property; and
• the cost of police and insurance administration.

Scotland analysis

The average cost per accident in Scotland and the total cost of all accidents in Scotland are presented in Tables 10 and 11. These are calculated using the GB casualty costs and the number of casualties by severity in accidents in Scotland. The average costs per accident for Great Britain and Scotland differ because of differences in the average numbers of casualties per accident, and the proportions of fatal and serious casualties in an accident.

Also estimated are the number of damage only accidents and their average costs.

The estimated total costs at 2007 prices of accidents in 2006 and earlier years are calculated by applying the relevant estimated per casualty and per accident costs for 2007 to the numbers of casualties and accidents of each type in 2006 and earlier years.

Changes to Methodology

Results published here have been revised to account for revisions to the GDP series used to inflate costs from the 1997 baseline. Previously these historical revisions hadn't been incorporated when uprating annual cost figures. Insurance costs have been added to the police/administration category in table 9b - these had previously been omitted.

Further information the methodology can be obtained from the DfT:-

(Tel: 020 7944 6177)