Injuries Being Ignored in Road Safety Conversation

Focusing only on road deaths while ignoring injuries creates complacency around road safety, according to the Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS).

Aside from fatalities, there are 100 people seriously injured on the road every day in Australia, amounting to 37,000 people each year.

ACRS President Lauchlan McIntosh said fatalities were only the tip of the iceberg, and that Australia was “well behind its own targets to reduce deaths and injuries from road crashes.”

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack recently commented on the increased number of deaths on Australian roads in 2018, saying the death toll takes Australia back to levels not seen since 2015.

He referred back to a statement made in 2017 by ACRS Fellow Professor Narelle Haworth from the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety — Queensland, where Haworth referred to how misguided it was to simply focus on the death toll.

“It shapes the views of both policymakers and the public, and leads to a distorted picture of what needs to be done to improve road safety.”

Haworth said drink driving, speeding, fatigue, and not wearing seat belts were far more prevalent in fatal crashes than in those causing serious injury.

Similarly, 50 per cent of fatal crashes occurred in 100 km/h zones, whereas serious injuries were more likely to occur in speed zones of 60 km/h or less. Motorcyclists, bicycle riders and pedestrians made up the greatest proportion of people admitted to hospital than those killed.

McIntosh said the 2018 Ministerial Inquiry into Australia’s road safety strategy set out the scale of work required on the path ‘Towards Zero’, emphasising the lack of urgency and resources currently being allocated to reduce the unnecessary burden taking place on Australian roads.

“Ignoring the 100+ serious injuries per day, every day, just encourages complacency. We know what to do, let’s see some real commitment from all parties to reduce this burden.”