Raising awareness of the way road accidents affect lives is the key to reducing crash numbers, according to the Actuaries Institute.

Improved treatment immediately after injuries occur and further research and analysis are also among the institute’s recommendations following the Victorian Government’s inquiry into serious injuries from crashes.

The institute has also provided a breakdown of the methodology it says should be used to calculate costs to the economy and community from a serious injury.

The components are direct costs of treatment and compensation; indirect costs of lost economic productivity from injured people and their families; and the indirect social cost of having people with serious injuries.

Meanwhile, in a separate submission, the institute has backed reforms to the NSW compulsory third party “green slip” insurance scheme, which will see benefits extended to compensate injured people regardless of fault, plus a simpler claims system.

“We are excited by some of the opportunities for improvement presented by this reform and are very interested to work with the relevant parties to assist in its design and implementation,” the institute said.