Abstract:

According to the World Bank, the annual economic damage from traffic accidents exceeds $500 billion, which ranges between 2 and 4% of the gross national product of different countries. Current trends in the transport systems development suggest that the traffic accident injures will take the fifth place in the world among the main causes of death by 2030. The level of losses that society bears is unacceptably high worldwide, and thus solving the problem of road safety is extremely important and relevant task for modern society. On the basis of review of main methods for damage estimation of traffic accidents, this paper points out the shortcoming of existing methods for damage estimation of traffic accidents, different methods predetermine different and completely not comparable results, which indicates the lack of operationality, and presents different users’ expectations need be considered. Take Russian Federation as an example, the study illustrates the universal technique can be used as a basis for comparison, for obtaining normative estimates when legal disputes and collisions arise. For practical use, specialized techniques should be developed for all consumer groups, fully taking into account the specific needs of different users. The “Assessment and calculation methodology of standards for socio-economic damage from traffic accidents " is considered as unified and recommended for use in assessing the effectiveness of any targeted programs aimed at improving road safety at the federal, regional and local levels. However, from the review it follows that the universal technique is inconvenient as a tool for practical use, it is non-operational.