Road crashes cause most trauma cases

More than half of survivors in a New Zealand study of major trauma were injured on the roads. Thirty per cent of the patients suffered their injuries in motor vehicle crashes and a further 26 per cent were injured while “vulnerable road users” such as motorcyclists, cyclists or pedestrians.

Half suffered a brain injury. These are the findings of a study published today in the New Zealand

Medical Journal, five days after one of the country’s deadliest road crashes — other than bus fatalities — which killed eight people.

The sole survivor, 9-year-old David Poutawa, was discharged from Hawke’s Bay Hospital yesterday. Both of his parents and five of their children died in the head-on smash at Atiamuri, north of Taupo¯, on State Highway 1 on Sunday.

Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter said the medical journal study highlighted the toll on the injured.

“What often gets overlooked is the enormous impact that serious injuries have on people’s lives, sometimes the rest of their lives,” she said.

The total social cost of fatal and injury vehicle crashes, including healthcare and lost earning potential, was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2017.

For a year, Karol Czuba, of Auckland

University of Technology, and colleagues followed 112 adult victims of major trauma from Middlemore and Auckland City hospitals.

“The findings show that most study participants made a good recovery, but there was still a large group of people experiencing disability and not in paid employment at 12 months post-injury,” the authors say.

At 12 months, 4 per cent had an extreme problem with mobility, and 30 per cent a moderate problem.

Regarding pain, 52 per cent had a moderate problem and 47 per cent no problem.

At 12 months, 55 per cent were in paid employment, up from 51 per cent at six months, but down from 69 per cent before the injury event.

AA road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said the study “hammers home why we need to be doing so much better in terms of road safety.”