Road traffic injuries & disability burden

A workshop organised by EuroSafe, the EU-IDB and the EUPHA Injury & SSWH sections during EPH2024 heard new evidence on the heavy burden placed on health systems by prolonged medical impairment following a road traffic injury. 

Workshop highlights included: 

• A Swedish register-based study of individuals aged 20 to 59 years sustaining a road traffic injury showed: excess sickness absence of 15-35 days/year during the first year following the accident; 8% of individuals left with a permanent medical impairment; 2% claimed a new disability pension 2 years after the crash. 
• Decreasing mortality rates due to road traffic injuries were recorded in a Lithuanian study of children aged 0-19 years following the implementation of road safety interventions including education, improved infrastructure and law enforcement.
• A promising EU Horizon project (ProtAct-Us) aspires to reduce long-term consequences and related socio-economic cost of road crash related injuries for all road users through interlinked research action between medical and engineering methods and approaches.