September/October 1977 Issue

What’s Your Life Worth?

Societal Cost Components for Fatalities, 1972 NHTSA Study

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Here is a chart from a federal study showing how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has calculated the value of a human life. The estimate was arrived at under pressure from the auto industry. The Ford Motor Company has used it in cost-benefit analyses arguing why certain safety measures are not “worth” the savings in human lives. The calculation below is a breakdown of the estimated cost to society every time someone is killed in a car accident. We were not able to find anyone, either in the government or at Ford, who could explain how the $10,000 figure for “pain and suffering” had been arrived at.

COMPONENT 1971 COSTS
Future Productivity Losses
Direct
Indirect
Medical Costs
Hospital
other
Property Damage
Insurance Administration
Legal and Court
Employer Losses
Victim’s Pain and Suffering
Funeral
Assets (Lost Consumption)
Miscellaneous Accident Cost 		$132,000
41,300

700
425
1,500
4,700
3,000
1,000
10,000
900
5,000
200

TOTAL PER FATALITY: $200,725

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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