Hidden toll of road trauma

Moment of distraction changes lives forever

FOR every person killed on Geelong’s roads, more than 30 are taken to hospital with serious and often life-changing injuries, as the city’s “hidden road toll” grows rapidly.

Transport Accident Commission road trauma data reveals there were 3163 accidents involving hospitalisation on City of Greater Geelong roads between January 2011 and May this year, the most recent available figures.

And of those thousands, almost 300 were so badly injured they remained in hospital for more than two weeks.

Compared with the 92 deaths on Geelong’s roads in the same period, this hidden road toll amounts to slightly more than 34 people injured or seriously injured for every fatality.

The hidden toll is rapidly growing in Geelong, jumping by more than 70 per cent between the first half of the past decade (1101) and the past five years (1882).

And with traffic slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels this year, Geelong has recorded two of its worst four months on record for serious road injuries this year – with 53 TAC claims for benefits and compensation in May and 49 claims in March.

Geelong’s record-breaking run of serious road injuries also shows an astonishing 30 of the worst recorded months for serious road injuries in Geelong have been in the 65 months since 2015.

In the 2020-21 financial year, more than 53,000 Victorians received $1.57bn in benefits and compensation from the TAC after a crash.

Geelong highway patrol Senior Sergeant Craig Stevens said police had a “feeling of dread” whenever they were called to a serious injury collisions because they never knew what they would be met with.

“It’s very distressing to see someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father seriously injured or killed in a car crash, especially when often it could have so easily been avoided,” Sergeant Stevens said.

“It only take a few seconds for a normal car trip to turn to tragedy.

“And it’s not just irresponsible drivers whose lives are at stake – it’s the family travelling in the car next to you that could end up seriously injured because of your risky driving behaviour.”

Sergeant Stevens said the message from police was clear – motorists must drive responsibly and understand that there were very often lifealtering consequences for those who chose to take risks on the roads.

He said those types of collisions were too often caused by risky driving behaviour such as speeding, distraction, no seatbelts, or driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

“Many drivers, particularly young people, seem to think that if their phone rings, they must answer it and if they get a message, they must read it,” Sergeant Stevens said.

“But you only need to take your eyes of the road for a couple of seconds to cause a tragedy.

“It’s just not worth it.”

TAC chief executive officer Joe Calafiore said the “sad reality” was that the TAC supported around 20,000 Victorians who had been injured in a crash each year.

“It is impossible to quantify the psychological and emotional costs of such injuries on TAC clients and their families, and these effects are often magnified in regional areas such as Geelong,” Mr Calafiore said.

“We’re asking everyone in Geelong and the broader region to keep safety front of mind as we head into Christmas and the New Year.”