As the statutory insurer of third-party personal liability for road crashes,
the TAC funds treatment and support services for people injured in road
crashes in Victoria. The number of hospitalised TAC claimants is shown to be a
rigorous and consistent measure of serious injury for road safety strategies
in Victoria (D'elia A. and S. Newstead, 2011. Alternative mesures of serious
injury for national road safety strategy target setting. Australasian Road
Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference).
The data includes claims from persons injured in transport accidents in
Victoria who were admitted to hospital within 7 days of crash. The data also
includes a flag for acute hospitalisations that exceed 14 days. The injury
severity of such claims are markedly higher than the rest of hospitalised
claims. Also, while composing only 6 per cent of the total number of claims,
they make up 60 per cent of the cost the Victorian community incurs via the
TAC compensation scheme.