Costing national road accidents with partially complete national data: the case of Lesotho

Abstract

Road accidents have many negative costs that are regarded as socio-economic costs. Many low-income countries have a serious road accident problem. Nevertheless, the estimation of the national explicit costs of road accidents as well as the implicit value of the accidents is rarely highlighted to policy makers. This article focuses on giving an insight into the challenges of estimating the costs of road accidents in low-income countries where vital registration and relevant statistics concerning road accidents are scarce. The problems of data on the vehicle damage repair costs, victims' medical expenses and administration cost are discussed. A feasible method for costing road accidents in such instances is identified, and the severity and costliness of road accidents in a sub-Saharan African (SSA) country is demonstrated. The analysis shows, among other things, that road accidents erode more than 1.85% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).