Geelong’s shocking ‘hidden road toll’ revealed

For every person killed on Geelong’s roads, more than 30 are hospitalised with serious and often life-changing injuries. The survivor of a horrific collision that claimed the life of his wife reveals his ongoing pain, physically and mentally.

For a long time after the crash, John Flynn clung to the hope he would walk again.

“But, now that’s not going to happen,” he says, hopelessly, sitting in the confines of his Corio living room.

It’s approaching the 10-year anniversary of the day a truck pulled out in front of John and his beloved wife Judith as they shared a motorcycle cruise to Daylesford, and he’s reflecting on his decade as part of the ‘hidden road toll’ – those fortunate enough to survive a serious crash, but left with serious and often lifelong injuries.

John Flynn chatting about effects of his 2012 motorbike crash, which killed his wife and has left him in agonising pain for the past decade.

When John’s left leg absorbed the full force of the collision, it crushed bone and muscle fibre into powder and paste between his Yamaha V Star cruiser and the twin cab truck. It also cushioned the impact enough to both save and devastate his life in one ugly moment.

Judi, riding pillion, was less fortunate, joining the official road toll that day – June 11, 2012.

Now, almost a decade later, John’s road trauma extends beyond the long, red-ribbon scars carved into his leg, and the agony of losing his best friend.

More than 10 major surgeries performed by numerous surgeons have failed to fix his shattered leg, leaving the 66-year-old father not only reliant on a wheelchair for movement and a carer for assistance around the house – he’s also facing a growing sense of isolation as friends and family continue on with their lives as his sits in standstill.

“There’s the physical side of it, of course, but the mental side is just as bad – if not worse,” he says.

“I’ve got a lot of thoughts going on about what I want to go and do – but I can’t … That’s the hard part. It really does your head in, you know.”

“It’s impacted my life to the point where’ I’m not the person I used to be, nowhere near it.

“It devastated my life. That’s the only adjective I can think of, devastation. On many fronts, the whole thing put together – effecting the kids, losing my wife, going through this continuous pain and suffering, going back and forth to doctors, not getting anything from the treatment.

“I always had the outlook that I was going to get better and I’d be up walking, but now that’s not going to happen. How many surgeons have seen it I’d hate to think, and they all want to have a go, so they all chopped me up big time, and eventually you get told ‘well we can try to do it, but you’ll probably die’.”

“I’d rather still stay alive a little bit longer.”

Few people better understand the utter devastation that can be caused in a single moment on Victoria’s roads than John Flynn.

While the ripple effects of road trauma continue to impact his life almost a decade after the crash, John has some advice for road users ahead of what is likely to be a busy holiday period – with many road users taking long trips for the first time in about two years.

“Driving’s an art,” he says, pointedly.

“There are a lot of people out there on the roads who can kill other people if they think they can come out of these lockdowns and just jump in a car and drive like they used to.

“They’ve got to ease themselves back into it. If your own the roads this holidays just don’t hurry. Be courteous, calm down when things are slow or it’s congested – just take it easy.”

Geelong’s shocking ‘hidden road toll’ revealed

For every person killed on Geelong’s roads, more than 30 are hospitalised with serious and often life-changing injuries, with the city’s ‘hidden road’ toll rapidly growing in recent years.

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

And of those thousands, almost three hundred were so severely injured they were kept in hospitals for more than two weeks.

Compared to 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 that occurs.

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

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

Senior Sergeant Craig Stevens says police witness too many life-changing collision. Picture: Alison Wynd

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

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

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 are very often life-altering consequences for those who choose to take risks on the roads.

“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,” he said.

He said these 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 – 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 the “sad reality” was that the TAC supports around 20,000 Victorians who have 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,” he 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.”

Originally published as Geelong’s shocking ‘hidden road toll’ revealed