CDC: Yearly cost of auto accidents is almost $100B

Those riding in vehicles represented 71 percent of crash-related costs ($70 billion), while motorcyclists accounted for $12 billion, pedestrians added $10 billion and bicyclists represented $5 billion, CDC reported.

Among the other key CDC findings:

• Males represented 70 percent of all fatalities and 74 percent of all costs.

• Teens and young adults, though only 14 percent of the nation’s population, represented 28 percent of all injuries and fatalities, resulting in 31 percent of the total crash-related costs ($31 billion).

• Costs related to fatal accidents totaled $58 billion, while those resulting in non-fatal hospitalizations accounted for $28 billion. 

CDC is quick to note that traffic accidents — and the subsequent medical costs — are preventable. Child safety seats, stronger seatbelt laws and more sobriety checkpoints are just a few of the strategies the agency is promoting to reduce both. 

The study was published in the latest issue of Traffic Injury Prevention. 

Cross-posted from HealthWatch.