ECONOMIC COST OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN RELATION TO THE HIGHWAY

THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT TOLL IN NUMBER OF PERSONS KILLED AND INJURED HAS BEEN PUBLICIZED SO FREQUENTLY THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE QUITE FAMILIAR WITH THE FIGURES AND CAN EVEN RELATE THE DETAILS OF THE LATEST FATAL ACCIDENT. FEW PERSONS, HOWEVER, HAVE AN INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF WHERE, ON A STATEWIDE BASIS, MOST OF THE COLLISIONS ARE OCCURRING, WHAT TYPES ARE MOST FREQUENT AND WHAT WOULD BE THE ODDS, AS MEASURED IN NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS PER 100 MILLION VEHICLE-MILES, OF HAVING AN ACCIDENT ON THE MASSACHUSETTS STREETS AND HIGHWAYS. PRIOR TO THE 1954-55 ACCIDENT COST STUDY IN MASSACHUSETTS WHICH WAS CONDUCTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND THE REGISTRY OF MOTOR VEHICLES IN COOPERATION WITH THE U.S. BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS, THE MONETARY COST OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS WAS PURELY CONJECTURAL. THIS PAPER SHOWS WHAT THIS ACCIDENT COST STUDY HAS REVEALED IN TERMS OF ACCIDENT RATES AND DIRECT COSTS OF ACCIDENTS ON THE SIX HIGHWAY SYSTEMS IN MASSACHUSETTS AND POINTS OUT WHERE SPECIAL ATTENTION SHOULD BE DIRECTED IN ORDER TO STEM THE TIDE OF RISING ACCIDENT TOLL AT ITS HIGHEST POINTS. IT IS REASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT THE CONDITIONS WHICH PREVAIL IN MASSACHUSETTS ARE TYPICAL OF THOSE IN MOST OTHER STATES. /AUTHOR/