The combination in the U.S. of large land area, large population and greater use of motor vehicles creates a total travel figure that is much higher than that of other countries. The average amount of automobile travel per vehicle ranges between the twelve and seventeen thousand kilometers for the European countries, with the U.S. in a higher range and Japan lower. The data on average amount of travel by the various vehicles most likely reflects the types of use of these vehicles. Low mileage buses and trucks may be maintained for single uses while others may reflect high intensity utilization. Table IN-5 shows fuel costs and the contribution to the economy of the transportation and related sectors.
Fuel prices vary widely between countries and reflect full costs including applicable taxes.
More than 50 percent of gasoline prices in the European countries can be attributed to taxes. While diesel fuel taxes are less than those on gasoline they are substantial by comparison with those imposed in the United States. The contribution of the transport, storage and communication sectors to the economies is surprisingly uniform for all countries except Mexico and the employment portion for the United States. Table IN-6 provides fatalities and fatality rates for each country. Of the reporting countries, fatality rates are lowest for the U.K., and highest for France.