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Core 1: Health Priorities in Australia

What are the priority areas for improving Australia’s health?

Road and traffic related injuries

The nature of the problem

Road and traffic related injuries can be divided into five main road user groups. These groups are drivers, passengers, pedestrians, motor cyclists and pedal cyclists.

The graph below shows serious casualties amongst 15-19 year olds by road user groups over a three year average from 1996-1998. A casualty is any person who is killed or injured as a result of a motor accident.

Pie graph: 3 yr average of casualties: 15-19 yrs, NSW, 1996-98

Road and traffic related injuries cost the people of Australia over $6 billion every year. The costs associated with road and traffic related injuries impact not only on the individual but the individual’s family, friends and community.

The cost after the crash

The financial costs associated with injury and death as a result of a car crash are only one component of the equation. There are significant financial and emotional costs associated with crashes. These costs impact at both an individual and community level.

The costs include:

the loss of earnings of the injured
emergency medical care
repair costs
insurance payouts
rehabilitation.

Student activity
Explain how communities suffer as a result of road and traffic related injuries. Consider the financial costs by refering to the information presented above.

The enormous emotional cost in terms of trauma and personal loss however, cannot be measured in dollars. The deaths and serious injuries that result from the road and traffic environment affect people across all groups in the community.

Student activity
Read the example given below and consider the emotional cost. That is, how would this loss effect the victim’s family, friends and community. Example: Wendy, a 29 year old mother of three, who is a teacher at her local primary school. Wendy is on her way to work and is killed in an accident involving a speeding motorist. Wendy’s children have lost their mother, her husband no longer has a wife, her parents have lost their daughter, and our community has lost someone who is making a valuable contribution to society. Adapted from Road Safety 2010; NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, 1999.

Student activity

Read the example given below and consider the emotional cost. That is, how would this loss effect the victim’s family, friends and community.

Example:
Wendy, a 29 year old mother of three, who is a teacher at her local primary school. Wendy is on her way to work and is killed in an accident involving a speeding motorist. Wendy’s children have lost their mother, her husband no longer has a wife, her parents have lost their daughter, and our community has lost someone who is making a valuable contribution to society.

Adapted from Road Safety 2010; NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, 1999.

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