Socioeconomic impacts of fault attribution after a motor vehicle crash

Of the 66,000 Australians injured in road trauma annually, 19% report long-term reductions in social participation and work capacity, and have costly health service needs. Attributions of fault are a major barrier to injury outcomes as they lead to perceived injustice and impact on the capacity to cope with trauma. This project will systematically identify the complexity of fault attributions, and will evaluate their impact on socioeconomic outcomes (return to work; cost of health care use) using large population injury datasets. The results will lead to innovative approaches for identifying those at greatest risk of poor outcomes who require additional support to get life back on track after a crash.