Tackling the causes of serious injury crashes

Over the last two years VicRoads and the Monash University Accident Research Centre have been
conducting an in-depth crash investigation project designed to improve understanding of the causes of
serious injury crashes. Drivers and motorcycle riders who had been hospitalised as a result of injuries sustained in a crash were recruited and interviewed as soon after admission as possible. The vehicle(s) involved and the scene of the crash were then located and inspected within two weeks of the crash.
Data collected from these three sources was then compiled and presented to panels of stakeholders in the locality where the crash had occurred. The panels? objectives were to consider the crashes on a ?no-blame? basis, determine the causes of the crashes, and then devise countermeasures to prevent similar crashes happening in the future. Panels were composed of the state and council engineers responsible for the road, representatives from the Police and emergency services (where possible the actual personnel who had attended the scene), and other interested parties such as local hospitals and community road safety groups. Between April 2005 and April 2006, twenty-seven panels were convened across Victoria and collectively they considered seventy-nine crashes. This paper describes the project methodology and summarises the preliminary outcomes.