Crash Costs for Highway Safety Analysis

Safety practitioners and researchers use crash costs to determine if safety improvement projects are economically justified and to quantify economic impacts of crashes.

Crash costs can also be used to quantify and compare the safety of various design alternatives. In 2018, Massachusetts began developing comprehensive crash costs to assist with these analyses.

Table of Contents

2024 Comprehensive Crash Costs by Crash Severity for All Crash Types Combined

The crash cost calculations are based on the methodology defined in FHWA's Crash Costs for Highway Safety Analysis published in 2018.

The crash costs developed are comprehensive because they include both economic costs (e.g., medical bills, lost wages) and quality-adjusted life years (QALY - commonly thought of as the cost for pain and suffering). The cost of a crash is typically broken down by the crash severity. In 2024, the comprehensive crash costs can be found in the table below for total average comprehensive crash costs by crash severity.

Crash SeverityCrash Severity Defined2024 Recommended Comprehensive Crash Unit Costs
KCrashes involving a Fatal Injury$19,435,000
ACrashes involving a Serious Injury$1,112,900
BCrashes involving a Non-serious Injury$354,100
CCrashes involving a Possible Injury$208,000
OCrashes involving No Injuries$20,900
KACrashes involving a Fatal Injury OR a Serious Injury$3,582,900
KABCrashes involving a Fatal Injury OR a Serious Injury OR a Non-Serious Injury$835,100
KABCCrashes involving a Fatal Injury OR an Injury of any type$573,600
KABCOAny crash severity$160,200

Crash costs have also been developed for specific crash types. Details on the methodology used to develop the comprehensive crash costs for Massachusetts and the detailed comprehensive crash costs for specific crash types is linked below.

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