A new deal for road crash victims

Victims' organisations are having to fill the hole left by government failures

People do not generally expect to be affected by road traffic crashes—they are a horror that affects others. But that is not what the statistics say. For lifetime exposure, the average person in a developed country has a 1% risk of death and a 30% risk of injury.1

About 50% deaths occur at the site of the crash or during transport, and the rest of deaths occur in hospital.1 Many developed countries provide fast emergency help, which can be on the spot in five minutes in urban areas and in 20 minutes in rural areas. But the quality of prehospital and hospital care has to improve. For example, in the United Kingdom up to 40% of deaths in hospital after road crashes could be avoided if victims received appropriate treatment by qualified and trained personal in well coordinated and well equipped departments.2

Furthermore, for people who survive the crash, additional suffering and frustration occur because of administrative, legal, and social barriers. From a victim's perspective, most judicial systems are biased towards the driver. Victims are marginalised and suffer twice over when the legal process treats them as mere evidence. The United Nations has reacted against this unfairness. Its declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime states that a victim who has suffered physical or mental injury should be treated with compassion and respect for his or her dignity and entitled to prompt redress for the harm he or she has suffered.3 It has asked governments to take initiatives to protect the victim's rights, to improve their position in the criminal system, and to guarantee fair compensation. Governments should also provide material, medical, psychological, social, and juridical assistance to victims.

Seventeen years after this appeal very few governments have committed themselves to helping victims or improving the position of victims in the criminal system. A study funded by the European Commission has shown that 25% of parents of children who have been killed in road crashes still have suicidal ideation after three years.4 It also seems that psychological support comes mostly from relatives and friends, sometimes from the family doctor, but hardly ever from institutions.

Associations for road victims, working mainly on a voluntary basis, have tried to fill this gap. These associations started in Europe and the United States some 30 years ago—at a time of rapid expansion in the road traffic industry and a steep rise in road traffic injuries. They aim to raise awareness of road traffic issues and are committed to advocacy for preventive measures. Many of these national associations are now joined under the umbrella of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (www.fevr.org). Such pressure groups exist only because of the failure of governments to enforce road safety laws and investigate road deaths. There would be no need if governments faced up to their responsibility—we are effectively campaigning for our own extinction.