Why are accident costs not addressed in the proposed directive?
There are two main reasons. First, the level of external accident costs depends, to a large extent, on the applicable insurance system and the costs it covers. Second, unlike local pollution and congestion costs, accident costs cannot be efficiently internalized by kilometer-based charges, as they are very much determined by individual driver characteristics and accident history. This issue will be further reflected upon in the review of the European Road Safety Action Programme that the EC intends to carry out in 2009.
