Estimate the average unit costs for (a) operating a standard vehicle on a level roadway, (b) travel time for a truck company, (c) single-vehicle property damage, (d) personal injury, and (e) fatality.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The following are estimated average unit costs for:
(a) Operating a standard vehicle on a level roadway.
10 cents per mile for depreciation
4 cents per mile for fuel
8 cents per mile for insurance and registration
3 cents per mile for maintenance
25 cents per mile on level ground
The estimated average unit cost to operate a vehicle on level ground is 25 cents
per mile.
(b) Travel time for a truck company. Using estimated costs of 35 cents per mile to
operate a truck and 25 cents per mile for its driver, the unit cost is approximately
60 cents per mile. At an average speed of 50 mi/h, the travel time cost is:
($0.60/mi)(50 mi/h) = $30 per hour of travel.
(c) Single vehicle property damage. According to a sample of crash records in
Virginia, the average property damage per crash is approximately $1,800, and the
average number of vehicles involved in a crash is 1.7. Therefore, the average unit
cost for single vehicle property damage is ($1,800 / 1.7) = $1,059.
(d) Personal injury. If a single X-ray costs $225 and a visit to the emergency
room costs $175, it can be estimated that the average cost for a personal injury
(not including costs associated with treatment) is approximately $400.
(e) Fatality. The average unit cost of a fatality is difficult to determine; however,
values between $100,000 and $4.5 million have been used.