Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have suggested that the government increase investment in road safety to reduce the impact of accidents on the economy.
A study on road traffic accidents and its impact on the State’s economy was released on Sunday. The report reckons that the cost of road traffic accidents was over ₹12,912.13 crore to the State government. The report is based on 2019 data from the State Crime Records Bureau.
Health Minister Ma. Subramanian released the report developed by Nijina M. Nazar, project scientist and Venkatesh Balasubramanian, faculty in the institute’s Department of Engineering Design.
Mr. Subramanian said the study by the Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) could sensitise the government and public on the cost involved in accidents. The government could use the study to identify the implicit cost of an accident and use it to improve financial planning and appropriately invest on initiatives to strengthen road safety, he said.
The centre, a think tank of the Union Ministry of Road Transport, and other policymakers providing advisory on road safety, studied the socio-economic costs of road accidents in the State and had come up with three estimates of the socio-economic impact.
The estimates were calculated taking into account the medical cost, loss of tax revenue, also considered as production loss, human costs, damages to the vehicle, civil damages and administrative costs such as police, insurance and the legal system.
The study has included travel delay costs and efficiency tax, costs that the government may have to impose on society to revive the economy.
Mr. Venkatesh, who is also faculty in-charge of Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group labs, said the study could help policymakers calibrate and plan for higher targeted investments on initiatives.
The total impact in financial terms has been arrived at using the hybrid capital approach method that uses the present value of potential earnings of the accident victim.
According to the study, the economic cost of each road fatality in the State was ₹87,45,154.79. The cost of a grievous injury in a road accident was estimated to be ₹1,69,544.82. The additional health services required accounted for 2.34% of the cost.
The study pointed out that the health, welfare and family budget could be strained by the costs.
