From the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/commuting/dc-area-crashes-add-up-74-billion/2011/11/02/gIQAu67piM_print.html
If there is any good news to be found in this latest attempt to quantify the damage done to lives and property, it might be that, apportioned per capita, crashes cost less in this area than they do nationwide.
That’s apparently because the slow-speed accidents of cars caught in congestion do less damage and cause fewer deaths and injuries than those that occur at highway speeds. The report was conducted by Cambridge Systematics for the American Automobile Association.
Researchers concluded that the cost per capita of a crash in this region is $1,363, compared with a national figure of $1,522.
“There is a silver lining,” said John B. Townsend II of AAA. “It doesn’t cost as as much because we can’t go as fast.”