How Car Accidents Impact SA Healthcare System

August 12 - When the Automobile Association (AA) commissioned a study on the cost of road maintenance in South African over the past twenty years, it was found that the country needed around R32 billion a year to keep the roads in good condition.

This sum is far less than the cost of car accidents that unfortunately take their toll on our roads.

Many do not realize that car accidents impact society in a huge way - whether it be the cost of insurance, the cost of labour and of emergency services.

In addition, car crashes put a terrible burden on an already strained healthcare system.

"Road accidents not only affect those who are directly involved in them, but other elements of society too," said the Head of Public Affairs of the AA, Gary Ronald. "There are direct costs such as emergency services, hospital and funeral costs to less quantifiable costs such as loss of output in the labour sector, insurance, training and rehabilitation."

Ronald said that while we cannot control the condition of the roads we use, and drivers rarely anticipate correctly the driving of other motorists, we can still make a difference by making an individual effort so that, collectively, we will have a greater impact on our healthcare system and infrastructure.

According to statistics, the total costs of traffic accidents in South Africa rose to R112 billion in 2009. It is therefore understandable that the healthcare system is being placed under enormous strain.

"We now have more cars on our roads coupled with a deteriorated road network and the healthcare sector is going to experience increases pressure and more casualty and injury admissions," said Ronald.