Download - Car crashes injuries
In 2012 more than 2.5 million(7,000 a day) people visited the Emergency Room because of a motor car crashes.
Of those, 200,000 required to be hospitalized for a period of time afterwards, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Preventions latest Vital Signs report.
The lifetime cost of these crashes totaled an estimated $18 billion consisting of emergency room visits ($8 billion) and
hospitalized patients ($10 billion).
The CDC also estimates that $33 billion in lifetime work (individuals who can no longer work due to injuries) was
lost as well.
However, the highest percentage of hospitalized individuals came from the 80 years or older demographic,
where 33% of them ended up requiring hospitalization.
The average cost for an emergency room visit was around $3,300 while the average hospitalization bill was
approximately $57,000 over the course of a lifetime.
Compared to 2002, there were 400,000 fewer emergency room visits and 5,700 fewer hospital stays in 2012.
The CDC estimates that $1.7 billion was saved in medical costs and $2.3 billion was saved in work loss due to efforts
over the years to enhance driver safety.
Although car crashes have reduced in volume over the years, there is still quite a bit of room for improvement.
The CDC recognizes 12 effective motor vehicle injury prevention techniques proven to reduce the risk to drivers
and that increase driver safety while driving.
Some examples are sobriety checkpoints and ignition locks for convicted drinking and driving, a more comprehensive
driver licensing system for teens, improved child safety with required car/booster seats for children under 8 or less than
57 inches tall, and seat belt laws for everyone in the car.