Skip to main content

Average US$3.75mn ‘social cost’ of each New Zealand road death

The average social cost of each New Zealand road accident death is $3.75 million (NZD 4.54 million), according to an estimation by the New Zealand ministry of transport (MOT) The New Zealand MOT also estimates that the average cost of serious injuries due to road accidents is $392,989 (NZD 473,600) per person. The social costs include financial and non-financial costs of accidents such as property damage, medical and legal expenses as well as loss of quality of life. The number of road accidents in New Ze
January 16, 2014 Read time: 1 min
The average social cost of each New Zealand road accident death is US$3.75 million (NZD 4.54 million), according to an estimation by the New Zealand ministry of transport (MOT).

The New Zealand MOT also estimates that the average cost of serious injuries due to road accidents is $392,989 (NZD 473,600) per person. The social costs include financial and non-financial costs of accidents such as property damage, medical and legal expenses as well as loss of quality of life.

The number of road accidents in New Zealand has declined from 308 in 2012 to 254 in 2013. It is estimated that one person died every 28 hours in a New Zealand road accident in 2012, with total social costs of road accidents during that year reaching $3.18 billion (NZD 3.84 billion).

Related Content

  • Investing in East Africa's road sector to boost economic development
    April 14, 2020
    Investments in East Africa’s road sector are helping drive economic development as well as political stability
  • Joining forces on safety'
    April 12, 2012
    The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) welcomed the launch of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, saying it will enable the European Union to join forces in tackling road safety at a global level. The UN move aims to reduce by 50% the projected increase in road deaths by 2020, and was developed with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which predicts that road traffic injuries will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030 in the world. It demanded action to correct t
  • OECD countries invest average 1% GDP on road/rail infrastructure
    July 11, 2013
    OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries investment in road, rail and inland waterway infrastructure as a percentage of GDP averages around 1%, according to new research by the International Transport Forum (ITF). The figure is contained in the ITF at the OECD’s 2013 annual statistics update ‘Spending on Transport Infrastructure 1995-2011: Trends, Policies, Data’, which is accompanied by a related database, released today.
  • DUI dangers in the US
    September 27, 2022
    A new report highlights DUI dangers in the US.