In a recent report from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), it was found that around 61,483 Australians ended up in hospital due to road crashes in the 2021-2022 financial year. This is equal to roughly 168 ambulance trips every day.
These startling figures reveal a massive social burden in our system. Road crashes take a large toll on emergency services, leaving ambulances rushing to crash sites and resulting in less capacity to deal with other emergency situations.
Equally, the financial burden of these road accidents is substantial, costing Australia an estimated $27 billion each year. This equates to around $74 million per day in direct medical expenses, emergency services, rehabilitation, and indirect costs including lost productivity.
The report raises several important questions, like what differences Aussies would see in their communities if ambulances were more readily available to respond to other health issues, instead of being taken up by road crashes.
A breakdown of the figures © Australasian College of Road Safety
The study at a glance
The report, titled Social Cost of Road Crashes, was developed by the Australian National University at the request of BITRE. They wanted to use a broad range of data to move beyond economic cost models which ignore the resource burden of road crashes and social consequences.
Overall, the study focused on three main questions:
- What type of crash has the highest social cost?
- Does the cost of crashes warrant more being spent on crash prevention?
- How does the benefit of road safety investment compare with other health investments?
It was found that while fatal road accidents result in the highest social cost, even non-hospitalised injury crashes cost around $30,4000 per incident. Equally, spending more on crash prevention would free up emergency services to address other critical incidents, positively impacting the community as a whole.
Digging deeper
As a result of these figures, the Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) aims to achieve a 50 percent reduction in road fatalities and 30 percent reduction in serious injuries by 2030. While the number of people killed and injured on the road has increased over the last few years, there is hope that numbers may start to drop with a few changes.
Achieving a 30 percent reduction in serious injuries nationally would ease the strain placed on emergency services, freeing up ambulance trips, hospital beds and other health services. Redirecting these resources could improve overall healthcare goals, too.
ACRS CEO, Dr Ingrid Johnston says “every road crash represents not only a personal tragedy but a significant strain on our healthcare system. By improving road safety and reducing serious injuries, we can free up these essential resources – ambulances, hospital beds, and medical staff – to address other critical health emergencies, in addition to preventing significant pain and suffering for injured road users and their families and friends”.
According to the BITRE report, saving a fraction of the $74 million spent daily on responding to road crashes would not only protect Aussies, but also allow the reinvestment of those funds in healthcare, infrastructure and preventative road safety measures.
“We have ignored the increasing road safety problem for too long. This is a shared responsibility. It is time for governments, industries, and communities to redouble their efforts and work together towards this 2030 goal,” Dr Johnston adds.
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