Road trauma the leading cause of accidental death of children, teens and young adults
HEARTBREAKING figures reveal more than 700 young Victorians have died on our roads in the past decade. It’s time to stop the scourge — we reveal the most dangerous times on our roads and what parents can do to help keep their kids safe.
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MORE than 700 young Victorians have died on the state’s roads in the past decade, shocking new statistics reveal.
Heartbreaking Transport Accident Commission data — revealed today by the Herald Sun — confirms road trauma is the leading cause of accidental death of children, teenagers and young adults.
Only disease and suicide claim more young lives than road trauma. And thousands more children a year are admitted to hospital after car crashes.
Over the past decade, 172 Victorians under the age of 18 have died on our roads while a further 553 people have died between the ages of 18 and 25.
Transport accidents were also the leading cause of hospital admissions for Victorians aged between 15-24 in the 2016-17 financial year, with thousands of children presented because of road trauma.
Today the Herald Sun and Transport Accident Commission are calling for an end to the scourge behind hundreds of unnecessary young deaths.
“We’ve made great gains in making our roads safer over the past few decades, but the fact that transport accidents remain one of the leading causes of death of young Victorians shows there is still much to be done,” TAC CEO Joe Calafiore said.
“By their very nature, young drivers are inexperienced and some are prone to taking risks, but we shouldn’t accept that this as an excuse for the hundreds of young people we’ve had die on our roads over the past decade.”
Analysis of fatalities data shows the middle of the afternoon — around school pick-up time — is the most dangerous part of day for children travelling on or near our roads, with more deaths over this period than any other.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Mick Grainger said between April 1, 2017 and March 30, 2018 there were 1025 children under the age of eight in cars during collisions.
“Of those, 325 young people were injured and among them five weren’t wearing seat belts and eight weren’t wearing child restraints,” he said.
“This is the hidden toll and the concern I have. That a young person cleaned up by a car carries that injury for life.
“It is a significant tragedy that plays out on our roads on a daily basis.
“But human nature, for whatever reason, sees many of our road users dismissing that rather than taking the time to think about it every day.”
Hospital figures also reveal the hidden road toll behind thousands of other crashes on our roads.
Transport accidents were the leading cause of hospital admissions for Victorians aged between 15-24 in the 2016-17 financial year, with thousands of children presented because of road trauma.
Dr Sjaan Koppel, of the Monash University Accident Research Centre said a study of driver behaviour found many parents were not restraining their children properly.
“In Australia we’ve got really high numbers of kids sitting in restraints but we’ve found that there’s a lot of errors in the way children sit in them,” he said.
“Most restraints are tested using a dummy that sits perfectly still and doesn’t move or play like real world children.
“Cars are designed for adults … For a child to receive that specialised protection the technology needs to be installed correctly, used correctly and properly fitted for the right size and age.
“Research out there shows incorrect and inappropriate restraints are significantly related to adverse outcomes, be that injury or death.”
Over the past decade there have been more fatalities in the Yarra Ranges municipality than any other, followed closely by Casey, Brimbank and Greater Geelong.
About 70 per cent of back-over crashes happen in driveways at home where young children are around and experts believe many of these could be avoided if cars were fitted with rear-facing cameras.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said early conversations about road trauma were the best way to keep young Victorians safe.
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