A lot is written about the 35k, give or take 5k per year that die needlessly from automobile wrecks throughout the United States. We are one of the more dangerous countries to drive or be around drivers in. Of those numbers 5k, give or take 1-2k, die needlessly while walking down the street and being impaled, smashed or otherwise killed by errant motorists. But there is an even bigger number out there, that number is the people who have been maimed*, dismembered* and now live with a permanent disability because of an errant motorist.

In the NHTSA Fact Sheets (linked below) the year 2012 alone, there were 184k recorded injuries, a 2 percent increase over 2011. In 2012 this was one of the leading causes of injure to 15-20 year olds (and a leading cause of death). There were more people injured by motorists in the United States than killed and injured combined from combat and operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last 5 years. Of these injuries the average insurance cost for treatment skyrockets to about.

The CDC points to a cost of $14k average per incident for bodily injury. That’s well beyond the basic average wreck that only claims damage to property (the car) of about $3-4k.

In the NHTSA “Not in Traffic Surveillance” the number of injuries hit an average of 91k per year between 2008 and 2011. It’s easy to make an educated guess and assume, the injuries still are very close to 91k per year today. These injuries are caused by absolutely irresponsible motorists, by not braking appropriately and rolling into or over people, a large number of people just walking away from their car without insuring it is stopped. The number of injuries from this behavior are enormous for the simple ease of preventing it.

For all of the deaths, related injuries and their respective costs, the numbers are staggering. Oregon is hit with a cost of $422 Million per year. This doesn’t even include the indirectly related costs that are often just as high. Washington hits a mighty $665 Million. These two states, which I included because I commonly point out how much better these states do than the other states, still do very poorly in these categories. Those are some serious numbers to think about, on top of this whole mess we call our transportation system in the United States.

So how does Washington and Oregon measure up compared to other advanced nations like the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, England or Germany? I’ll take a look at that data in the near future. Cheers, and seriously, be careful out there and have some respect for that motor vehicle you’re around, controlling or parking.

References & Definitions:

• Maimed: wound or injure (someone) so that part of the body is permanently damaged.
• Dismembered: cut off the limbs of (a person or animal).
• Census Data on fatalities and wrecks (I’ve corrected their inappropriate wording of these wrecks as accidents)
• NHTSA DOT Fact Sheet for 2012 – Young Drivers
• NHTSA DOT Fact Sheet for 2012 – Bicyclists and other Cyclists
• NHTSA DOT Fact Sheet for 2012 – Pedestrians
• CDC Motor Vehicle Wrecks and Injuries
• Oregon Crash Costs
• Washington Crash Costs
• Not in Traffic Surveillance