Automobile accidents in America are running up a bill of hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
That's according to a new government study released today.
NBC's Beverly Kirk has details from Washington.
Not wearing a seatbelt can be expensive, in more ways than one.
A new Transportation Department study examining statistics from the year 2000 shows motor vehicle crashes cost Americans nearly $231-billion a year, or $820 per person.
Norman Mineta / Secretary of Transportation:
"That's money families could have spent on education or home improvements
or even on family vacations. But instead, it was spent on such things as
increased insurance premiums, increased health care costs."
While the study shows seat belt use in one year saved almost 12,000 lives, still-- more than a quarter of all drivers don't buckle up, and that carries a high price.
Dr. Jeffrey Runge / Administrator, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration:
"Tomorrow, if everyone buckled up in America, we could shave 26-billion
dollars a year from the cost of injury."
Alcohol-related crashes are also taking an economic toll, according to the study, costing nearly $51-billion annually.
Transportation officials hope by talking about the economic impact of accidents, state with tight budgets will realize the value of programs such as "click it or ticket" which promote seatbelt use.
Dr. Jeffrey Runge / Administrator, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration:
"When they look back at state data and see that sucking sound they hear
is from motor vehicle crashes, pulling money out of their economies, I'm
hoping they'll look at the simple countermeasures."
And authorities say the most effective countermeasure is buckling up.
Transportation officials also hope that by talking about the high price of car crashes, they'll reach people who may otherwise ignore seatbelt safety campaigns.
May 9, 2002
