Socio-economic costs of road crashes in Lebanon: the application of a hybrid approach

The official data pertaining to road traffic crashes in Lebanon only encompasses nearly 50% of the projected yearly mortality rate, which exceeds 1,000 people. The lack of legal provisions designed to protect vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and motorcyclists, in Lebanon has led to a notable percentage of road fatalities, ranging from 30% to 40%. The adherence to established driving safety protocols in Lebanon is deficient in frequency, as demonstrated by reports that indicate a mere 15% of front-seat passengers consistently use seatbelts. The objective of the current research is to assess the socioeconomic impact of road traffic crashes in Lebanon; in other words, to assess the crash costs by means of two methods: willing-to-pay (WTP) and human capital (HC). Between 2010 and 2022, the WTP approach yielded an average cost estimate of $1,281,393,100 (with an estimate of $753,563,928 for the year 2022), while the HC approach resulted in a cost estimate of $1,299,475,794. The expenses related to vehicles constituted 5.4% of the overall costs, whereas the productivity expenses constituted 9.4%. According to the results of the survey administered in this study, the respondents demonstrated a readiness to expend a sum between 73 and 74 dollars to attain a 50% reduction in the incidence of crashes and a sum between 60 and 61 dollars to achieve an 80% decrease in the likelihood of crashes.