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FORMER tow truck driver Bob Ferrie remembers clearly the first serious crash he attended.
It was summertime in the late 1970s and he was called by police to attend a collision in which a person’s vehicle had run off the road and crashed into a tree near Elmore.
He recalls a distinct feeling of dread as he made his way to the scene, even though in the end, that person survived.
“That was the very first one and I remember that knot in my gut as I was driving up the road,” Mr Ferrie said.
“Do you know what? That knot never, ever went away. Even after over 30 years of doing it, it never ever went away.
“And I think the more bad things that I saw, the worse it got.
“I’m glad I’m not doing it anymore.”
Road collisions can be, first and foremost, incredibly traumatic for the family and friends of those involved in them, not to mention survivors.
But they also leave a mark on the people who have to see, investigate and clean up the horror they wreak.
Mr Ferrie acknowledges that the sights he faced in his career as a tow truck driver have had an emotional and mental toll on him.
But he said it was only in the past six or seven years that he realised just how much what he had experienced had affected him.
Speaking to the loved ones of people killed or maimed by road trauma was one of the most difficult aspects of the job, Mr Ferrie said.
People would often come to collect personal belongings of their family member or friend and request to see the vehicle, he said, and doing so would leave them heartbroken.
“That was the hardest part, you know, because why should they have to suffer like that?” Mr Ferrie said.
Incidents involving children were also some of the most heart-rending and traumatic he faced.
Road Trauma Support Services Victoria counselling and support services manager Bernadette Nugent said it was normal for people to experience a strong response after witnessing a collision or its aftermath.
“Most recover quite well, but trauma can have a cumulative effect,” Ms Nugent said.
Typical responses to road trauma can include frequent or intrusive memories of the incident, avoidance of the location of the collision, a feeling of being numb, and hyper-vigilance, with heightened concern about the safety of oneself and loved ones.
Ms Nugent said alcohol and drug abuse could also become an issue and often people became detached from friends and family.
Anger and depression are among other common responses to trauma.
“People really struggle with these things,” Ms Nugent said.
It was not uncommon, she said, for those exposed to horrible scenes on the roads to only feel the full effect of what they had seen once they retired and were distanced from their jobs.
She said Road Trauma Support Services received about 200 referrals a month, on average.
Ms Nugent urges anyone who feels they are suffering the ill effects of being exposed to road trauma to seek help, as recovery can potentially take longer if these responses are ignored.
With just a bit of thought, just a couple of seconds, that’s all it takes, and somebody’s still alive, or somebody’s not in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.
- Bob Ferrie
The needlessness of the tragedy and trauma on the roads gets to Mr Ferrie, and he wants people to understand that it can so easily happen to anyone, that no one is bulletproof on the roads.
“Having seen in our own family what it does… and having seen the reactions of relatives and close friends when they come to pick up the personal belongings of somebody that’s been killed or badly injured in a motor car crash... it’s the brothers and the sisters and the mums and the dads, all the people that love them - they’re the ones that really suffer,” he said.
But he said road trauma also had a “ripple effect”, as the repercussions of the pain carried by those who witnessed the effects of a crash could be felt by their families too.
Mr Ferrie remembers one serious collision he attended and the pain of the people trapped inside their crumpled vehicle, describing the tears that had been running down his face as he tried to free them from the wreckage.
It was a simple miscalculation on the part of the driver of the other vehicle involved, he said, that had resulted in such a horrible crash.
In 1969, 1034 people were killed on Victoria’s roads, and while that number has fallen to a quarter of what it was, it still represents thousands of lives devastated by the loss of a loved one.
“That was when all these laws started to get tightened up and they’ve done a wonderful job, they really have, but (there is) still the effect on all the people around the incident, and most importantly on the family,” Mr Ferrie said.
Mr Ferrie urges people to take care on the road, because he knows all too well what horror a moment of impatience or carelessness can bring.
“If people would just stop and think, most of these (crashes) can be avoided,” he said.
“With just a bit of thought, just a couple of seconds, that’s all it takes, and somebody’s still alive, or somebody’s not in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.”
Anyone who has been affected by road trauma and feels they need help can call Road Trauma Support Services on 1300 367 797 for free counselling and advice.