An Assessment of the Social Costs of Road Traffic Crashes in Cameroon

Peter Taniform, Luca Persia, Davide Shingo Usami (), Noella Bajia Kunsoan, Mary M. Karumba and Wim Wijnen
Additional contact information
Peter Taniform: World Bank Group, Nairobi P.O. Box 30577-00100, Kenya
Luca Persia: Centre for Transport and Logistics, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Roma, Italy
Davide Shingo Usami: Centre for Transport and Logistics, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Roma, Italy
Noella Bajia Kunsoan: Centre for Transport and Logistics, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Roma, Italy
Mary M. Karumba: State Department for Planning and Statistics, Nairobi P.O. Box 30005-00100, Kenya
Wim Wijnen: W2Economics, 3523 Utrecht, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-22

Abstract: This study estimated the social costs of road traffic crashes (RTCs) in Cameroon, motivated by a lack of empirical evidence for economic loss and social suffering associated with RTCs menace in developing countries particularly Sub-Sahara Africa. A model for estimation of cost based on a combination of valuation methods was developed following international guidelines, and can be adapted for other developing countries similar to Cameroon’s context. Five cost components were estimated namely: production loss; human costs; medical costs; property damage costs and administrative costs. Data from the field, secondary databases and transfer values were used together with adjustments for under-reporting of road traffic crash data that is prevalent particularly in developing countries. Total social cost of RTCs in Cameroon in 2018 was USD 3.6 Billion and is equivalent to 3.8% of GDP in 2018. This estimate is way above RTCs cost estimates obtained by studies in Sub-Sahara Africa using the human capital approach, and slightly outside the range of social cost estimates found in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) literature. The estimate is also larger than the conservative figures used for policy purposes such as the current National Road Safety Strategy, implying that under-reporting of RTCs data under-represents apparent socio-economic value of RTCs. The study recommends improvement in the procedures of crash data by operationalizing the recently established centralized RTCs database, as well as adoption of systematic approaches to estimation of crash costs by policy makers.

Keywords: social costs; road traffic crash; human capital approach; willingness to pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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