"(It) left me with a broken nose, a broken hip and six broken ribs, a laceration to the liver and spleen, crushed my leg and crushed my finger," he said.

"I spent three weeks in hospital and it was really difficult because my partner was about to have a baby.

"I had to push to get out of hospital so I could make the birth, got out three days before he was born."

As well as Mr Hetherington suffering severe injuries - he has metal plates in both his tibia and fibula and is facing a bone transplant in October - the family of four is now struggling without a primary source of income.

"It's extremely difficult; we've been going to food parcel places that help out," Mr Hetherington said.

Mr Hetherington's brother-in-law set up a GoFundMe page for the family, which has helped, but it's likely they will be relying on aid for a while as the father-of-two said his recovery could take "a year-plus, easy".

Mr Hetherington is just one of thousands of Australians affected by road trauma in Australia.

The Economic Connections Cost of Road Trauma in Australia report released this month found that while road fatalities had fallen by 25 per cent between 2006 and 2015, injuries requiring hospitalisation had increased.

For 2015, the report found each road fatality cost the economy $4.34 million, and it put the cost of road injury at $239,000 per hospitalisation. That year there were 1205 fatalities and 27,964 hospitalised injuries.

Nationally, the ECON report estimated the total cost of road trauma for 2015 was $22.2 billion.

By far the biggest cost according to the report was the loss of life, health and wellbeing.

Vehicle damage was the second-largest cost item, followed by disability care.

RACQ spokesman Paul Turner said it was not just the dollar price that was an issue.

"By far the most concerning cost is the emotional turmoil that crashes put families through," he said.

"We put dollar values on crashes to justify the funding for safety improvements required - but a person's life really is priceless and irreplaceable, especially to their families and friends."

As distinct from the total cost of road trauma, the ECON report put the direct cost to government for one year at $3.17 billion.

Of that $3.17 billion, the report put the cost of the immediate response to trauma by health and emergency services at $945 million. More than three-quarters of the direct cost to government included the value of lost tax revenue and income support payments, and additional health services made up almost 12 per cent.

"First and foremost it impacts the victims, their families, as well as the emergency and medical services," Mr Turner said.

"Serious injuries can have long-standing effects where significant rehabilitation and care is required.

"This means there can be broader impacts to the wider community and the economy."

Mr Hetherington said the incident, which happened in Brisbane's south in May, had taken a toll on both himself and his partner Lyndal.

"My partner had walked out and as she opened the front door she's seen it happen ... as she got across she could hear me moaning in pain," he said.

"For her it was pretty devastating as well."

Psychologists have been a help, he said, but that cost is not covered as part of his hospital treatment, while other specialist visits have had to be postponed until they have more money.

"Some of the stuff we've had to wait, put off scans and seeing neurologists," Mr Hetherington said.

"I'm going in for a hearing test and (to see) different specialists but we haven't been able to go because of the cost of everything - everything gets put on hold."

Mr Turner said to reduce road trauma, and therefore reduce the cost, we needed safer drivers in safer vehicles on safer roads.

"This means governments need to invest in upgrading roads and road safety education programs," he said.

"Motorists also need to buy the safest vehicles possible. This will help minimise the chances and severity of road crashes."

While only $2750 has been raised on the fundraising page so far, Mr Hetherington said without that bit of help they would have struggled even more while waiting for the insurance.

"Without the GoFundMe page, it wasn't a great deal but it helped enough to get in between," he said.

"It takes some of the stress away, so I can concentrate on getting better."