The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a final report entitled “Unit Costs of Medium/Heavy Truck Crashes,” completed by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), that provides the latest estimates of unit costs for highway crashes involving medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
Based on the latest data available, the estimated cost of police-reported crashes involving trucks with a gross weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds averaged $91,112 (in 2005 dollars). Crashes in which truck-tractors with two or three trailers were involved were the rarest, but their cost was the highest — $289,549 per crash. The costs per nonfatal injury crash averaged $195,258, and fatal crashes cost more than any other crashes — at $3,604,518 per crash.
Safety analysts use crash cost data for a variety of purposes, from analyzing the effectiveness of a particular roadway enhancement to measuring the impact of seatbelt use. Crash costs also are used to calculate and compare the cost-effectiveness of proposed safety regulations.
To view the entire study, including many data tables, click here.
