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Traffic Accidents Hurt Productivity

That's the conclusion of a study in the October issue of Injury Prevention.

Of those lost productivity costs, about $5.6 billion were the result of injuries suffered by people who weren't wearing seatbelts. The study also found that more than 30 percent of drivers and passengers involved in a crash lost at least one day of work. Overall, work time lost after a crash averaged 28 days.

Researchers at the Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center in Seattle analyzed 32,748 employed people aged 18 to 65 involved in motor vehicle crashes.