Elliott Auerbach, Comptroller 244 Fair Street, 5th Floor Kingston, New York (845) 331-8774

Office of the Ulster County Comptroller

VEHICLE ACCIDENTS BY THE NUMBERS
___________________________ _______________________ _________ __July 11, 2013 ____

The Countys Vehicle Fleet

In April 2013, our Office issued a report entitled County Use of Take Home Vehicles. The report noted that the County owned a fleet of 318 vehicles at the time of the conclusion of our field investigation, and identified that of those vehicles, 82 were designated as take-home, at a cost to the County of approximately $369,000, which did not include the cost of damages to vehicles caused by accidents. The present report provides an overview of those costs.

What do These Accidents Cost the Taxpayers of Ulster County?

Table #2 shows the breakdown of the costs associated with the 79 accidents, totaling $136,785. This amount includes four vehicles which were deemed totaled, the cost of which amounted to $92,389. Excluding the four totaled vehicles, the average cost per accident amounted to $592.

Data on Accidents Involving County Vehicles

During 2012, 65 County vehicles were involved in 79 accidents. These accidents resulted in damages ranging from superficial scratches to accidents in which cars were totaled. There were three accidents that were not accurately reported as defined in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the County. According to the SOP, when an employee is involved in an accident, regardless of the severity, the accident must be reported immediately to the Ulster County Safety Office, Central Auto, and the Insurance Department. During this review it was found that three of the 79 accidents were inaccurately reported. These three accidents were all reported to the Safety Office. However, none of them were reported to the Insurance Department, and one was not reported to Central Auto. Although this failure rate is a relatively low 4%, it is pointed out to emphasize the importance of inter-departmental communication, especially in circumstances where the County could be held liable for damages.

How Many Accidents Involved a Take-Home Vehicle?

The review identified five accidents involving a take-home vehicle where the driver was at fault, costing $26,236, or 19% of the total accident costs. When added to the approximate cost of take-home vehicles previously reported, the cost to the County totals over $395,000.

How Many Accidents Involved Repeat Offenders?

The analysis revealed there were six employees involved in multiple accidents, costing the County $35,415.

How Much Money is Recoverable through Ulster Countys Insurance Policy?

Ulster County pays $193,587 per year for a vehicle insurance policy which has a $25,000 per accident deductible. This amount also includes liability coverage in the event of a lawsuit. This coverage is subject to a $75,000 deductible and applies to indemnity payments or payments made for injuries sustained in an accident. However, defense costs are outside of the deductible. The County Insurance Department is responsible for all accidents under the $25,000 policy deductible, excluding a $1,000 departmental deductible reimbursable to the Insurance Department. This means the department involved in the accident is liable for the first $1,000 in damages, and the County Insurance Department will cover the remaining balance of damages up to $25,000. No accidents during this review period triggered payment by the Countys third party insurance carrier, as all accidents in the review period resulted in damages less than $25,000. Therefore, these repair expenses were paid via tax dollars. Highway trucks and equipment are subject to a lower deductible of $1,000 under an Inland Marine insurance policy. Thus, the department is responsible for a $1,000 deductible for

What Departments Were Involved in Accidents?

Table #1 summarizes the number of accidents by the administrative unit involved. The table indicates that Highway & Bridges, the Sheriffs Office, and UCAT were involved in 63 of the accidents, or 80% of the total. The number of accidents within these units likely correlates to the fact that these units are responsible for covering the entire County of Ulster for road maintenance, patrol, or transportation, on a daily basis, in a County which is equivalent in size to the State of Rhode Island.

damages and the remaining costs are covered by the insurer. Three accidents occurred during 2012 which were covered by the policy and only the $1,000 deductible was considered in calculating the Countys total vehicle accident costs.

is not a County-wide policy or procedure in place that enforces such an action. We were informed that permit revocation is ultimately up to the administrative unit. The Safety Office is also responsible for monitoring all County employee drivers licenses and when a driver has more than 8 points on their license, drug or alcohol offenses, or a refusal of a sobriety test, the County driving permit is revoked for a minimum of 18 months. It is important to note that not all points on a drivers license qualify towards the 8 point maximum; applicability of points is determined on a case by case basis. If a County-wide policy or procedure were memorialized either in the SOP or through Legislative resolution, vehicle operators may be more attentive to the driving conditions and the cost of accidents could potentially be reduced. Lastly, an analysis could be performed to determine how much money is paid by the Insurance Department to cover costs below the policy deductible of $25,000. It may be discovered that a policy with a lower deductible would result in lower aggregate expenditure on vehicle accident costs.

Could Ulster County Save Money?

In a proactive effort by the County to research cost savings, the Insurance Department contacted our insurance carriers risk management Loss Control Specialist assigned to the Countys account. While the County is aware that the greatest area of exposure to liability claims are the dangers associated with work on County roads, the Loss Control Specialist also identified that automobile accidents are the Countys other greatest area of risk. As a result, the Loss Control Specialist is expected to meet with the units having the greatest number of claims in the upcoming months to discuss ways in which accidents could be better avoided. Another way in which the County could possibly save money on accident related costs would be through procedure enforcement by the Executives Office or a Legislative Office policy which revokes County drivers permits once a driver reaches a stated number of at-fault accidents. Currently, there
Table #1: Detail of 2012 Accidents by Administrative Units Vehicles Admin. Units Assigned to % of the Administrative Number of Accidents Units Accidents Administrative Unit Highways and Bridges Sheriff UCAT Dept. Social Services Buildings and Grounds Probation Health Department Veteran Services Central Services County Jail Other Totals: 67 53 32 29 29 18 17 6 3 15 49 318 32 18 13 6 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 79 40.51% 22.78% 16.46% 7.59% 2.53% 2.53% 2.53% 2.53% 1.27% 1.27% 0.00% 100.00%

Table #2: Cost of 2012 Accidents Cost of Accidents $ 18,454 100,156 2,103 1,967 9,712 3,448 348 300 150 147 Totals: $ 136,785 Administrative Units % of the Cost 13.49% 73.22% 1.54% 1.44% 7.10% 2.52% 0.25% 0.22% 0.11% 0.11% 100.00% Average Cost per Accident $ 577 5,564 1,052 984 747 575 348 300 75 74

Administrative Unit Highways and Bridges Sheriff Buildings and Grounds Health Department UCAT Dept. Social Services County Jail Central Services Veteran Services Probation

*Some vehicles were involved in more than one accident, the additional accidents are excluded from this number.