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Study: Taxpayers spent nearly 3 million for each road fatality in 2014

A new study by the Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi and the Finnish Transport Agency, Liikennevirasto, has found that the cost of road traffic fatalities and injuries exceeded one billion euros in 2014. The joint research found that society pays a heavy cost for injuries resulting from traffic accidents.

Kolaroitu auto.
Image: Michael McGurk / EPA

The recently-concluded joint study by Trafi and Liikennevirasto found that not only do road traffic accidents disrupt lives and cause hefty property damage; it also forces society to pay dearly when people are injured or killed in road accidents.

The study found that in 2014, each road fatality cost taxpayers some 2.77 million euros. The price tag attached to each serious road traffic injury was about 790,000 euros, while milder injuries cost society roughly 34,000 euros for each case.

The estimates included the cost of rescue operations, hospital care, rehabilitation and re-training, lost time on the job and lost wellbeing.

In 2014, the costs associated with personal injury as a result of road traffic accidents rose to 1.3 billion euros. Data from Statistics Finland indicate that 229 people lost their lives on the road that year.

Meanwhile advance data indicate that road accidents claimed 260 lives in 2015. By the end of April this year, 63 people had lost their lives on the road.

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