Social Cost of Road Traffic Crashes in India 1

A very large number of high income countries (HICs) have been estimating the costs of road traffic crashes over the past three decades. The methods used and costs allocated have generated a great deal of discussion and debate, in particular because of the difficulty of putting monetary values on pain and suffering. Calculation of direct and indirect costs of injuries, deaths and damage due to road traffic crashes started in the 1970s and many such analyses have been done in USA and Europe The main objective of assessing costs has been to provide an objective tool for help in selecting more cost-effective countermeasures for road safety and also to justify expenditures for the same. However, critics like Hauer1 question the very basic principles of cost-benefit analysis where human lives, pain and suffering are involved. Professionals like Hauer working in this area take the position that putting a monetary value on human life is ethically unacceptable