Every year, road traffic accidents claim 1.3 million lives worldwide and leave 20-50 million people injured. While the immediate tragedy of these numbers is undeniable, there is a hidden crisis that society has largely overlooked: the long-term consequences (LTC) that survivors face long after the initial impact.
Current road safety efforts have primarily focused on preventing fatalities and reducing the severity of immediate injuries. This approach, while valuable, misses a critical dimension of the problem. Research reveals that almost 10% of car occupants with even minor injuries sustain permanent medical impairment. Between 15-20% of accident survivors experience chronic depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) years after the crash. These long-term consequences, both physical and psychological, profoundly affect victims’ quality of life, their ability to work, and their relationships, yet they remain poorly understood and inadequately addressed.
IMPROVA aims to bridge the critical gap between immediate crash response and long-term consequences of victims of road traffic accidents, creating a holistic approach that considers the entire spectrum of post-crash consequences. By combining novel virtual human body models, advanced injury biomechanics research, and comprehensive psychological impact assessment, IMPROVA will provide the automotive industry and policymakers with the knowledge and tools needed to achieve true Vision Zero.
The IMPROVA project (Injury Mitigation to PROmote Vision-zero Achievement) addresses this critical gap by developing a comprehensive, science-based approach to understanding, measuring, and ultimately creating tools to prevent the long-term consequences of road traffic accidents:
1. Identify and understand the problem: By combining knowledge from medicine, psychology, biomechanics, and accident research, IMPROVA will create the first unified understanding of LTCs. The project will develop surveys among victims and treatment clinics, conduct dedicated studies on brain injuries, and propose the "IMPROVA formula", a new method to estimate the number of people suffering from LTC across Europe.
2. Make tangible: IMPROVA will establish new data collection methods, including a detailed codebook and questionnaire for accident investigations that capture not just immediate injuries, but also factors that predict long-term outcomes. This questionnaire will be tested in three EU regions and likely in the US and Australia, creating a harmonized global approach.
3. Propose linkages: The project will connect real-world accident data with laboratory test procedures, studying the specific injury mechanisms that lead to LTCs and establishing new injury risk criteria that consider long-term outcomes.
4. Refine Human Body Models (HBMs): IMPROVA will update advanced computer models of the human body so they can predict injuries relevant to long-term consequences, not just immediate life-threatening injuries. This will enable virtual testing that accounts for the full spectrum of injury outcomes.
5. Objectively assess: The project will develop two detailed virtual testing procedures, one for car occupants and one for vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists, that allow manufacturers to assess long-term injury risk efficiently during vehicle development.
6. Vigorous policy support: IMPROVA will provide evidence-based recommendations for countermeasures across all road user types. This includes studying why protective equipment is not used adequately (surveying over 2,000 people), developing guidelines for first responders to address psychological trauma, and recommending optimal restraint systems for adults and children in buses and coaches.
7. Address and mitigate at EU level and abroad: The project will disseminate results to key decision-makers, establish a global IMPROVA network, develop recommendations for consumer testing programs (NCAP), and recommend that the European Commission set a target for reducing people suffering from long-term consequences, proposing a 30% reduction by 2040.
