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Accidents involving fatalities
In 2001 the number of accidents involving fatalities in Australia fell by 2.5% (table 23.23). Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland recorded increases in fatal road traffic accidents in 2001, while the remaining states and territories recorded falls. Tasmania recorded the largest rise in these accidents (by 33.3%) from 2000.
Australia-wide, there were 1,736 deaths in 2001 from road traffic accidents, a decrease of 85 people or 4.7% on the previous year. Tasmania recorded the highest increase (32.6%), while Western Australia recorded the largest decrease in persons killed (23.0%). Between 1994 and 2001 the number of persons killed from road traffic accidents fell in all states and territories except Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, with Queensland recording the largest fall of 22.5%. During this period the largest annual movement in total road fatalities was recorded in 1997 with a fall of 10.3%.
23.23 ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FATALITIES
|
| NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT | Aust. |
|
ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FATALITIES |
|
1994 | 552 | 345 | 364 | 143 | 195 | 52 | 36 | 15 | 1,702 |
1995 | 563 | 371 | 408 | 163 | 194 | 53 | 56 | 14 | 1,822 |
1996 | 538 | 382 | 338 | 162 | 220 | 53 | 58 | 17 | 1,768 |
1997 | 525 | 346 | 322 | 123 | 184 | 29 | 56 | 17 | 1,602 |
1998 | 491 | 348 | 257 | 152 | 199 | 47 | 59 | 20 | 1,573 |
1999 | 506 | 345 | 273 | 132 | 188 | 47 | 44 | 17 | 1,552 |
2000 | 543 | 373 | 275 | 151 | 185 | 39 | 48 | 16 | 1,631 |
2001 | 494 | 404 | 296 | 137 | 150 | 52 | 43 | 15 | 1,591 |
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PERSONS KILLED |
|
1994 | 646 | 377 | 418 | 159 | 211 | 59 | 41 | 17 | 1,928 |
1995 | 620 | 418 | 456 | 181 | 209 | 57 | 61 | 15 | 2,017 |
1996 | 581 | 417 | 385 | 181 | 247 | 64 | 72 | 23 | 1,970 |
1997 | 576 | 377 | 361 | 148 | 197 | 32 | 60 | 17 | 1,768 |
1998 | 556 | 390 | 279 | 168 | 223 | 48 | 69 | 22 | 1,755 |
1999 | 577 | 383 | 314 | 151 | 217 | 53 | 49 | 19 | 1,763 |
2000 | 603 | 407 | 317 | 166 | 213 | 46 | 51 | 18 | 1,821 |
2001 | 524 | 444 | 324 | 153 | 164 | 61 | 50 | 16 | 1,736 |
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| | | | | | | | | |
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 'Road Fatalities Australia'. |
Road traffic fatalities
The fatality rate from road traffic accidents per 100,000 persons fell from 9.5 in 2000 to 8.9 in 2001. Decreases over this period were recorded in New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. In contrast, Tasmania recorded an increase from 9.1 road accident deaths per 100,000 persons in 2000 to 12.9 per 100,000 persons in 2001. Road traffic deaths per 100,000 persons in the Northern Territory in 2001 were significantly higher than the national rate, at 25.0 deaths per 100,000 persons (table 23.24). The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest rate of fatalities (5.0 per 100,000 persons) for 2001.
23.24 ROAD TRAFFIC FATALITIES
|
| 2000 | | 2001 |
|
| |
|
| no. | per 100,000
population(a) | per 10,000 motor
vehicles registered(b) | | no. | per 100,000
population(c) | per 10,000 motor
vehicles registered(d) |
|
New South Wales | 603 | 9.3 | 1.6 | | 524 | 7.9 | 1.4 |
Victoria | 407 | 8.5 | 1.2 | | 444 | 9.2 | 1.3 |
Queensland | 318 | 8.9 | 1.4 | | 324 | 8.9 | 1.4 |
South Australia | 166 | 11.1 | 1.6 | | 153 | 10.1 | 1.5 |
Western Australia | 213 | 11.3 | 1.6 | | 164 | 8.6 | 1.2 |
Tasmania | 43 | 9.1 | 1.3 | | 61 | 12.9 | 1.8 |
Northern Territory | 51 | 26.1 | 4.9 | | 50 | 25.0 | 4.9 |
Australian Capital Territory | 18 | 5.8 | 0.9 | | 16 | 5.0 | 0.8 |
Australia | 1,819 | 9.5 | 1.5 | | 1,736 | 8.9 | 1.4 |
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(a) Estimated resident population at 30 June 2000.
(b) Number of registered motor vehicles and motor cycles (excluding tractors, caravans, plant and equipment) at 31 October 1999.
(c) Estimated resident population at 30 June 2001.
(d) Number of registered motor vehicles and motor cycles (excluding tractors, caravans, plant and equipment) at 31 March 2001. |
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 'Road Fatalities Australia'; Population data - Australian Demographic Statistics, December Quarter 2001 (3101.0); Registered vehicles data - Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, 31 March 2001 (9309.0). |
Road traffic accidents involving casualties
In 2000, the Northern Territory had the highest rate of road traffic accidents involving casualties (184.4 per 100,000 persons and 35.4 per 10,000 registered motor vehicles), as shown in table 23.25. Tasmania recorded the lowest rate at 90.7 accidents per 100,000 persons and 13.2 per 10,000 registered motor vehicles in 2000. Both Western Australia and the Northern Territory recorded lower rates of road accidents involving casualties per 100,000 persons in the year ended December 2000 (98.4 and 184.4 respectively) than recorded in the previous year (111.2 and 191.3 respectively).
23.25 ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING CASUALTIES(a)
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| 1999
| | 2000
|
| no. | per 100,000 of population(b) | per 10,000 motor
vehicles registered(c) | | no. | per 100,000
of population(d) | per 10,000 motor
vehicles registered(e) |
|
New South Wales(f) | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
Victoria | 5,298 | 112.4 | 16.2 | | 5,519 | 116.0 | 16.6 |
Queensland | 3,787 | 107.8 | 16.4 | | 4,085 | 114.4 | 17.4 |
South Australia | 1,371 | 91.8 | 13.3 | | 1,366 | 90.7 | 13.0 |
Western Australia | 2,070 | 111.2 | 15.4 | | 1,850 | 98.4 | 13.5 |
Tasmania | 416 | 88.5 | 12.6 | | 437 | 92.6 | 13.2 |
Northern Territory | 369 | 191.3 | 35.8 | | 364 | 184.4 | 35.4 |
Australian Capital Territory(g) | 185 | 59.6 | 9.4 | | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
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(a) Accidents reported to the police or other relevant authority which occurred in public thoroughfares and which resulted in death within 30 days or personal injury to the extent that the injured person was admitted to hospital.
(b) Estimated resident population at 30 June 2000.
(c) Number of registered motor vehicles and motor cycles (excluding tractors, caravans, plant and equipment) at 31 October 1999.
(d) Estimated resident population at 30 June 2001.
(e) Number of registered motor vehicles and motor cycles (excluding tractors, caravans, plant and equipment) at 31 March 2001.
(f) Release of these data for NSW has been suspended by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority.
(g) Data for the ACT were unavailable for 12 months ended 31 December 2000. |
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Road Injury Database; Population data - Australian Demographic Statistics, December Quarter 2001 (3101.0); Registered vehicles data - Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, 31 March 2001 (9309.0). |
International comparison of road traffic fatalities
Table 23.26 shows for 1999 how the number of fatalities in Australia compare with those for selected other countries. Australia's rate of 9.3 road traffic-related fatalities per 100,000 persons is comparable to that of Canada (9.7), Japan and Switzerland (both 8.2), while it is considerably lower than the rates for the United States of America (15.3), France (14.4) and New Zealand (13.4). Australia's rate is, however, markedly higher than that recorded for Sweden (6.6) and the United Kingdom (6.0).
23.26 ROAD TRAFFIC FATALITIES, International comparisons - 1999
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| Persons killed | | Total population |
|
| |
|
Country | no. | per 100,000 of population | | millions |
|
Australia | 1,763 | 9.3 | | 19.0 |
Canada | 2,972 | 9.7 | | 30.5 |
France | 8,487 | 14.4 | | 59.0 |
Japan | 10,372 | 8.2 | | 126.7 |
New Zealand | 509 | 13.4 | | 3.8 |
Sweden | 580 | 6.6 | | 8.9 |
Switzerland | 583 | 8.2 | | 7.1 |
United Kingdom | 3,564 | 6.0 | | 59.5 |
United States of America | 41,611 | 15.3 | | 272.7 |
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Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 'Bench-marking Road Safety - The 1999 Report'. |
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