The Motor Accident Commission (MAC) is placing the spotlight on South Australia’s hidden road toll – the serious injuries and casualties that occur on the roads every day.
MAC Acting General Manager, Road Safety, Matt Hanton said there were 7,398 injuries on South Australian roads last year. This equates to 72 injured people for every person that died.
While fatalities receive greater attention in the media and road safety reporting, injuries account for the most significant proportion of overall road trauma.
“On average 20 people are injured every day on our roads, when we make poor decisions behind the wheel we’re not just risking death, we’re risking disability, brain injury and a painful recovery,” he said. “With around one crash an hour, your chances of being involved in road trauma are a lot higher than you probably thought.”
The lifelong suffering of many people seriously injured on the roads is under reported and not well recognised by the community.
“For every person that died in 2015 another 72 were injured,” said Mr Hanton. “A dedicated injury awareness campaign, using a new tram wrap will display the extent of injury on South Australian roads by highlighting the ‘hidden road toll’.”
The engaging and colourful tram wrap draws inspiration from ‘Where’s Wally’, as a cartoon theme that asks the audience to ‘spot’ the injured people.
The tram will run for the next three months with the key message ‘20 people are injured on our roads every day. Can you spot them? Take care out there’.
Photos courtesy of MAC.
