EVERY week two people are being taken to hospital after injuries sustained in road crashes on Ballarat roads, and of those, 20 per cent can expect to spend at least two weeks in hospital.
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TAC statistics, for the 12 months to the end of March this year show that Ballarat had saw 91 people taken to hospital as a result of a car crash in the that period of time.
The statistics are updated each month, but are not publicly accessible until six months later. These figures also do not include fatalities.
Just this week, another two people were taken to hospital after a road accident.
A man in his 70s was transported in a serious, but stable, condition following a two-car collision at Smythes Creek on Thursday afternoon.
Emergency services pulled the man from an overturned ute on the Glenelg Highway about 3.30pm.
Police at the scene confirmed the man was conscious and breathing when he was taken to Ballarat Base Hospital via ambulance. A second person was also transported.
The statistics highlight the most likely candidates and the day and time of the week where accidents are most likely to occur.
Wednesday is the most likely day of the week to see serious accidents, with the majority happening between 12pm and 5.59pm.
The driver of the vehicle is the most likely to be injured while figures also reveal that running off a straight road (27 injuries) and crashing while heading in an adjacent direction (24 injuries) are the most likely cause, pointing to distraction or fatigue as the common causes.
TAC CEO Joe Calafiore said one in five people seriously injured on roads where on high-speed carriageways.
"Regional Victorians are sadly over-represented in road trauma and it's not only fatalities that impact our communities, with too many lives permanently altered from serious injuries," Mr Calafiore said.
"One-in-five people seriously injured on Victorian roads are on high-speed rural roads, and this trauma can have life-changing and life-long impacts on those injured, their families and their friends.
"We know regional communities like Ballarat are tight knit, and just one death or injury on the roads can affect a huge amount of people.
"We are striving to completely eliminate all forms of road trauma and it starts with all of us making safe decisions and looking out each other on the roads."
Roads Minister Jaala Pulford said two thirds of the deaths on Grampians region roads this year were likely due to fatigue or lack of concentration.
"This is heartbreaking and unacceptable, and serious injury or death is not the price you should pay for using the road," she said.
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