1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/01/2003   
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Contents >> Transport >> Road traffic accidents

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
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
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
(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)
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.
(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
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
Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 'Bench-marking Road Safety - The 1999 Report'.



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