Cost differences between states may reflect price and income variations more than differ-ences in safety. Finally, differences in labor force participation rates and family size between states could cause employer costs per employee to vary even if safety levels and prices were equal. As expected, costs per employee are higher for industries where motor vehicles are used intensively. The highest costs per employee are in agriculture and forestry, land transportation, mining, heavy construction, and automotive sales and repair. Costs were assigned by vehicle type involved in the crash.
Heavier vehicles have smaller fatal costs but higher property damage costs.
We used the reported cases to infer the distribution of unreported cases. Thus, cost variations between industries should be compared cautiously. They may result from differing completeness of reporting. In balancing the goals of competitiveness and goodwill to employees, alternative strategies to cost-cutting become attractive. Traffic safety programs are an alternative to reduce these costs without reducing the benefits offered to employees.