More than one in four auto accidents resulted in bodily injury liability claims in 2003, even though research suggests that accident rates and the seriousness of auto injuries have decreased, according to a recent study by the Insurance Research Council.

IRC's study uses the ratio of bodily injury claims for every 100 property damage liability claims to measure the likelihood that bodily injury claims will be filed in auto accidents. In 1980, 17.9 bodily injury claims occurred for every 100 property damage claims. By 2003, the bodily injury to property damage ratio had increased to 26.4. The 2003 ratio is an improvement over the ratio in 1995, however, when 29.5 bodily injury claims occurred for every 100 property damage claims.

The increase since 1980 in the bodily injury to property damage ratio is the result of opposing trends in bodily injury and property damage claim rates, according to IRC. From 1980 to 2003, the bodily injury claim rate increased by 19 percent. At the same time, the property damage claim rate decreased by 20 percent.