§ Viscount Hanworthasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are satisfied that sufficient account is taken of serious injury in measuring the cost of road accidents; and whether they accept that disablement for life is more important to those who suffer from it than the statistics for the death rate.
The Earl of CaithnessIn August this year the Department of Transport revised the value of a serious injury to be used in the cost-benefit analysis of road and safety schemes. The new value of £74,480 represents a more than threefold increase over the previous value, and is derived from the results of research over the full range of injuries included within the serious casualty category, including the injuries which result in permanent severe disability.
The new value represents an average of the value given to different severities of injury. But it was clear from the findings of the research that severe total disablement was considered by most people to be at least as bad as death, and these injuries were, for the purposes of the calculation, valued at the fatal casualty value.