The National Safety Council makes estimates of the average costs of fatal and nonfatal unintentional injuries to illustrate their impact on the nation's economy. The costs are a measure of the dollars spent and income not received due to accidents, injuries, and fatalities. It is another way to measure the importance of prevention work. This bulletin illustrates how costs can be estimated for a community or state. The figures should be used to estimate the actual costs to society of deaths and injuries. The comprehensive cost figures (discussed below) should be used for cost benefit analyses. Cost estimation is not exact -- it can only be approximated. The estimates depend on many factors. Any cost estimates derived from information provided herein should be rounded to indicate that they are only approximations, not exact figures. The recommended rule is: for estimates less than $3,000,000, round to the nearest $100,000; for estimates between $3,000,000 and $10,000,000, round to the nearest $500,000; for estimates between $10,000,000 and $30,000,000, round to the nearest $1,000,000; and for estimates greater than $30,000,000, round to the nearest $5,000,000. COSTS OF MOTOR VEHICLE INJURIES The calculable costs of motor-vehicle crashes are wage and productivity losses, medical expenses, administrative expenses, motor vehicle damage, and employers' uninsured costs. (See the definitions on the reverse for a description of what is included in each component.) The costs of all these items for each death (not each fatal crash), injury (not each injury crash), and property damage crash were: Average Economic Cost