Report: Car, truck crashes cost whopping $871B

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http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/05/29/3217377/report-car-truck-crashes-cost.html?sp=/99/261/



FILE - This May 13, 2014 file shows a North Lenoir, N.C. firefighter taking equipment back to the truck after a woman, pinned in her white vehicle, was rescued by the jaws of life, in Kinston, N.C. The economic and societal harm from motor vehicle crashes amounted to a whopping $871 billion in a single year, according to a study released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The study examined the economic toll of car and truck crashes in 2010, when 32,999 people were killed, 3.9 million injured and 24 million vehicles damaged. Those deaths and injuries were similar to other recent years.

Report: Car, truck crashes cost whopping $871B
By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press
May 29, 2014 Updated 5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — The economic and societal harm from motor vehicle crashes amounted to a whopping $871 billion in a single year, according to a study released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The study examined the economic toll of car and truck crashes in 2010, when 32,999 people were killed, 3.9 million injured and 24 million vehicles damaged. Those deaths and injuries were similar to other recent years.

Of the total price tag, $277 billion was attributed to economic costs — nearly $900 for every person living in the U.S. that year. Harm from loss of life, pain and decreased quality of life due to injuries was pegged at $594 billion.

The safety agency produces such calculations about once a decade.