Imposed Costs due to Traffic Accident Fatalities (A Case Study of Sabzevar)

Traffic accidents are the ninth factor of life lost in the world. In our country, this issue has had a growing rate of 18.3% from 1375 to 1385, making the prevention of traffic accidents a considerable issue. The present study is going to estimate the dissipated costs due to car accidents in Sabzevar and tries to provide solutions to reduce them. The study is a retrospective one, done with the help of mortality data from the statistics office of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences. Demographic and economic indices in 1385 have also been used along with standard expected Years of life lost method.Between 1383 and 1387, 1/542 people were killed in driving accidents in the vicinity of Sabzevar. Also, considering the life expectancy in different age groups, the total years of life lost in this period has been estimated about 56,666 years. Considering the per capita gross national product, the monetary value of life years lost due to car accidents has been estimated.Considering a population of 477/000 people living in this city and more than 600 kilometers of main roads and communication routes, the imposed costs for each person would be 4/000/000 Rials per person and 620/000/000 Rials per kilometer annually. Investing a very small portion of this money on the educational and cultural programs for drivers not only has effective results, but also prevents psychological stresses which follow the death of a member of a family. More importantly, if prevention is given priority over treatment and a harmony between different organizations is established, the number of injured people with intensive care needs will be reduced and, hence, the imposed medical costs will decrease.