Socio-economic costs of road crashes in middle-income countries: Applying a hybrid approach to Kazakhstan

Abstract

Information about road crash costs is a valuable input for road safety policy making and it is essential for conducting cost-benefit analysis of road safety interventions. This paper presents a methodology for assessing the socio-economic costs of road crashes as well as an estimate of the volume of these costs in Kazakhstan. Five costs components have been taken into account: medical costs, production loss, human costs, vehicle damage and administrative costs. A hybrid methodological approach has been used, which implies that three different types of methods have been applied to capture all costs: the human capital method (production loss), willingness to pay (human costs) and restitution costs method (other components). Input data were retrieved from existing databases from a variety of road safety stakeholders and other organizations. A household survey was conducted to collect additional information, including the willingness to pay for fatal crash risk reductions. Remaining data gaps have been bridged by using data from other countries. The socio-economic costs of road crashes in Kazakhstan are estimated at $6.8 billion in 2012, which corresponds to 3.3% of GDP. Human costs account for 81% of the total costs, vehicle damage for 11% and production loss for 6%. Administrative and medical costs are relatively very small cost components. More than half of the costs is related to injuries, while fatalities account for about a third of the total costs and property damage only accounts for approximately 10%.