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Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail. Economic Impact of Motor-Vehicle Crashes Involving Teenaged Drivers -- Kentucky, 1994Motor-vehicle crashes (MVCs) are the leading cause of death and disability for teenagers of driving age (16-19 years) in the United States (1). In addition, teenaged drivers account for a disproportionate number of MVCs compared with adult drivers (aged greater than or equal to 20 years) (1). In Kentucky, teenagers are overrepresented in MVCs. To characterize the economic costs associated with MVCs involving teenaged drivers in Kentucky, the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center conducted a cost analysis of data from MVCs involving such drivers for 1994. This report presents the findings of this analysis, which indicate that, during 1994, crashes involving at least one teenaged driver in Kentucky incurred costs of $410 million. Data were analyzed for all fatal and nonfatal MVCs and for MVCs involving property (vehicle) damage only (PDO) identified in the 1994 Kentucky Accident Reporting System maintained by the Kentucky State Police, Information Services Branch. Injury costs were based on the maximum injury sustained using the Abbreviated Injury Scale -- a standardized system for categorizing injury type and quantifying severity based on immediate threat to life (2). Costs were estimated using a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report (3) and the CrashCost software program (4) designed to calculate cost estimates of MVCs in state or local jurisdictions. In 1994, teenaged drivers represented 5.6% of licensed drivers in Kentucky but accounted for 26,905 (22%) of the state's 124,037 MVCs. Teenaged drivers were involved in 120 (17%) of 706 fatal MVCs, 8490 (25%) of 34,643 nonfatal injury MVCs, and 18,295 (21%) of 88,688 PDO crashes (5). Of the 142 persons killed in crashes involving a teenaged driver, 62 (44%) were the teenaged driver (5). Based on information from Kentucky Uniform Police Traffic Accident Report forms, alcohol was not a major contributing factor to MVCs involving teenaged drivers: 17 (14%) of the 120 fatal crashes involving a teenaged driver were alcohol-related; in comparison, 242 (41%) of 586 fatal crashes involving an adult driver were alcohol-related (5). Teenaged drivers were more likely than adult drivers to be killed or injured in an MVC. The death rate for teenaged drivers (44 per 100,000 teenaged licensed drivers) was more than twice that for adult drivers (19 per 100,000 adult licensed drivers). The rate of nonfatal injury for teenaged drivers was approximately three times greater than that for adult drivers. The rate of nonfatal injury was highest for 16-year-olds and decreased with increasing age. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to estimate the relative risk for involvement in an MVC, for fatal and incapacitating injury, and for fatal injury for teenaged compared with adult drivers (Table_1). For all three outcomes, the crude ORs and the Mantel-Haenszel age-adjusted ORs were statistically significant at each age from 16 to 19 years. The age-adjusted OR for involvement in an MVC was greater for teenaged drivers (OR=3.30, 95% confidence interval {CI}=3.26-3.34), and the risk for sustaining a fatal or incapacitating injury was almost as high (OR=2.91, 95% CI=2.72-3.11). The age-adjusted risk for a teenaged driver sustaining a fatal injury was more than twice that for adult drivers (OR=2.30, 95% CI=1.77-2.99). The economic costs of MVCs involving teenaged drivers were calculated for injury- and noninjury-related costs on a "unit" (i.e., per injured person or per damaged vehicle) basis (Table_2). Using NHTSA's CrashCost software (4), the estimated cost of a single MVC-related fatality was $642,700. For fatal injuries, 80% of the cost was from lost productivity; insurance administration and legal/court costs accounted for 17%. The estimated cost of a single critical injury was $563,000. For critical injuries, medical expenses accounted for 45% and productivity losses accounted for 33% of the total unit costs. Unit costs for all other levels of injury severity ranged from approximately $5700 (minor injury) to approximately $151,000 (severe injury). In general, estimated unit costs increased with increasing levels of injury severity. To calculate the estimated total costs of MVCs involving teenaged drivers in 1994, unit costs were multiplied by the number of fatal and nonfatal injuries and the number of vehicles involved in crashes with PDO (Table_3). The software adjusts the number of crashes to account for unreported crashes. The total estimated cost of all 142 fatal injuries sustained in a crash involving a teenaged driver was $91 million. For all MVCs in which at least one teenager was driving, the total estimated cost of all MVC-related injuries (regardless of severity level) and noninjury costs for all persons and for all crashes involving PDO was $410 million. Reported by: LA Goldstein, PhD, CW Spurlock, PhD, PA Kidd, PhD, RH McCool, MS, Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, Lexington; R Finger, MD, State Epidemiologist, Dept for Health Svcs, Kentucky Cabinet for Human Resources. Div of Unintentional Injuries Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Editorial NoteEditorial Note: Teenaged drivers are involved disproportionately in MVCs throughout the United States and other developed countries. Kentucky has ranked consistently among the 10 states with the highest death rate for teenagers in MVCs (6). Factors accounting for the high proportion of MVC costs associated with teenaged drivers when compared with adult drivers include 1) higher morbidity and death rates for teenagers; 2) greater risk among teenaged drivers for involvement in crashes resulting in serious injury or death; and 3) potentially greater lifetime productivity losses for younger drivers than some older age groups. Although teenagers may not provide financial support for their families, fatal or permanently disabling injuries from MVCs generate a substantial economic loss by removing these youth from society as potential producers and consumers. Findings from the CrashCost software used to analyze the data for this report have at least four limitations. First, the software averages lost productivity costs across all age groups for each injury level, producing conservative estimates for costs associated with crashes involving teenaged drivers. Second, the software uses proportions derived from national estimates for the distribution of injury severity, driver age, crash-related costs, and crashes unreported to the police, then applies them to state data. The national estimates may not reflect the actual distributions of these factors in Kentucky. Third, the software uses an assessment of injury severity made by the police, which is accurate for minor injury and fatal injury categories but accurate for less than half of those whose injuries were classified in other categories. Finally, the costs may be underestimated because they do not include intangible costs (e.g., "pain and suffering"). Strategies aimed at reducing the number of MVCs attributed to teenaged drivers should substantially decrease both the overall numbers of traffic-related injuries and deaths and the costs of these crashes. Use of graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems is an important approach for reducing the number and subsequent costs of crash-related deaths and injuries among teenagers, their passengers, and other drivers. The intent of GDL systems is to provide young, novice drivers an opportunity to gain driving experience in low-risk settings. The system consists of three licensing stages, named by the type of license possessed at each stage: learner's permit, intermediate or provisional license, and full or unrestricted license. The system is not intended to raise the age for drivers' licensing. GDL programs target the driving behaviors and crash characteristics of teenagers that increase their risk for crash involvement (e.g., inexperience; poor decision-making skills; and high risk-taking behavior such as speeding, alcohol use, and nonuse of safety belts {7}; and high-risk exposure such as nighttime driving and driving with young passengers). A recent evaluation of the GDL system implemented in New Zealand in 1987 indicated that, from 1987 to 1992, the number of serious motor-vehicle-related injuries among 15-19-year-olds declined 7%-23%. Because other types of injuries for this age group also declined during the same period, the reduction could not be attributed entirely to GDL (8). In the United States, states that have implemented components of GDL have reported small but statistically significant decreases in the number of traffic-related injuries and deaths (9,10). In March 1996, the Kentucky Legislature passed the Graduate Drivers' Licensing for Youth bill, one of the most comprehensive GDL programs in the United States. Under this new legislation, a young, novice driver begins with a learner's permit and driving restrictions, including a period of supervised driving, a 6-month waiting period before applying for a license, a nighttime driving restriction, and a reduced point threshold for suspension of the license as a result of traffic citations. This program is expected to reduce the number of deaths, injuries, and economic costs associated with MVCs among teenagers in Kentucky. References
Table_1 Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 1. Comparison of teenaged * drivers with all other licensed drivers in
motor-vehicle crashes (MVCs) -- Kentucky, 1994
===================================================================================================
Fatal and
Involvement in MVC incapacitating + injury Fatal injury
------------------------- ----------------------- ----------------------
Age (yrs) Crude OR & (95% CI @) Crude OR (95% CI) Crude OR (95% CI)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 5.2 (5.0-5.3) 4.4 (3.8-5.0) 2.4 (1.2-4.7)
17 3.6 (3.5-3.7) 2.8 (2.4-3.2) 2.6 (1.5-4.2)
18 2.9 (2.8-3.0) 2.7 (2.4-3.1) 1.9 (1.1-3.2)
19 2.6 (2.5-2.7) 2.4 (2.1-2.8) 2.5 (1.5-3.9)
Age-adjusted 3.30 (3.26-3.34) 2.91 (2.72-3.11) 2.30 (1.77-2.99)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Aged 16-19 years.
+ Any injury other than a fatal injury that prevents injured persons from walking, driving, or
normally continuing the activities they were capable of before the injury occurred.
& Odds ratio. Referent group was drivers aged >=20 years.
@ Confidence interval.
===================================================================================================
Return to top. Table_2 Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 2. Estimated cost of motor-vehicle crashes involving teenaged * drivers per
injured person or per damaged vehicle, by type of expense and injury severity level + --
Kentucky, 1994 &
====================================================================================================
Expense PDO @ Minor Moderate Serious Severe Critical Fatal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Injury
Medical -- $ 690 $ 5,558 $18,725 $ 57,459 $251,633 $ 3,733
Premature funeral -- -- -- -- -- -- 2,767
Emergency
services $ 22 124 275 413 940 957 861
Vocational
rehabilitation -- 12 80 174 227 432 --
Market
productivity -- 971 9,127 29,856 41,960 149,044 418,236
Household
productivity 33 298 2,48 7,854 11,131 38,015 92,710
Insurance
administration 117 390 1,592 5,206 10,669 41,056 44,769
Workplace costs 28 142 1,075 2,396 2,610 4,623 6,091
Legal/Court -- 274 1,981 9,364 18,622 70,438 65,700
Total ** 200 2,901 22,177 73,989 143,618 556,198 634,866
Noninjury
Travel delay 98 158 158 158 158 158 353
Property damage 1,072 2,665 2,741 4,715 6,823 6,549 7,464
Total ** 1,169 2,823 2,899 4,872 6,981 6,707 7,816
Total ** $1,369 $5,724 $25,076 $78,861 $150,599 $562,905 $642,683
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Aged 16-19 years.
+ Injury costs were computed based on the maximum injury sustained using the Abbreviated
Injury Scale, a standardized system for categorizing injury type and quantifying severity
based on immediate threat to life (3).
& Estimates were derived by using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's
CrashCost software and were adjusted for locality (Kentucky) and year (1994).
@ Property damage only.
** Numbers may not add to totals because of rounding.
====================================================================================================
Return to top. Table_3 Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size. TABLE 3. Total costs of motor-vehicle crashes involving teenaged * drivers --Kentucky, 1994 =================================================================================================== Category Unit cost & Incidence @ Total cost --------------------------------------------------------- Injury level Minor $ 5,724 18,834 $107,805,816 Moderate 25,076 2,171 54,439,996 Serious 78,861 698 55,044,978 Severe 150,599 85 12,800,915 Critical 562,905 45 25,330,725 Fatal 642,683 142 91,260,986 PDO 1,369 46,031 63,016,439 Total $409,699,855 --------------------------------------------------------- * Aged 16-19 years. + Injury costs were computed based on the maximum injury sustained using the Abbreviated Injury Scale, a standardized system for categorizing injury type and quantifying severity based on immediate threat to life (3). & Cost per injured person or per damaged vehicle. @ Many crashes are not reported to police and are missing in state records; however, these crashes constitute a large proportion of crash costs. The number of observed incident cases has been adjusted to account for the percentage of unreported crashes by applying the following national estimates for unreported crashes: minor, 23.7%; moderate, 16.5%; serious, 6.8%; severe, 0.7%; critical, 0; fatal, 0; and property (vehicle) damage only (PDO), 48.0%. =================================================================================================== Return to top. Disclaimer All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices. **Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.Page converted: 09/19/98 |
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