According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regional administrator Elizabeth Baker, motor vehicle crashes costs the U.S. $150 billion a year. Property damage accounts for $52.1 billion of those annual costs, and lost productivity $42.2 billion.
For trucking and the general motorist population, the cost of highway crashes is affecting both taxes and insurance premiums, said Baker. U.S. taxpayers pick up $13.8 billion of the annual highway crash bill, or $144 in added taxes per household per year, she noted.
Insurance premiums then pick up $9.3 billion of those costs, which Baker said is passed on to highway users through higher insurance rates.