Road Trauma Australia—Annual Summaries

Publication Subject(s)
road
road deaths australia
safety
Publication Type
Statistical Report
ISBN
978-1-925843-05-7
ISSN
2205-4235
Release date

This report is the latest in a series of annual road crash statistical reports. It presents annual counts of deaths, fatal crashes, injuries and standardised rates. The focus is on the last ten years.

Data presented in this publication was correct as at March 2019. Due to normal ongoing revisions in road deaths data, comparisons between this publication and later reports will result in minor discrepancies.

2018 : At a glance

There were 1,145 road deaths in 2018, down from 1,223 in 2017–a 19.7 per cent reduction against the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 baseline and reduction of 2.0 per cent per annum.

All jurisdictions except the Northern Territory achieved reductions in road deaths over the ten years to 2018.

The fatality rate per 100,000 people decreased from 6.9 in 2009 to 4.6 per 100,000 in 2018. Victoria, South Australia and the ACT achieved higher reductions over the decade.

The largest reduction in road deaths was for young road users (17-25): 226 deaths in 2018, down 37.6 per cent over the decade. Despite this, the fatality rate per 100,000 young road users remains higher than other age groups.

Over the decade there has been a sustained increase in deaths for older road users (65 and over) to 244 deaths in 2018, particularly 65 to 74 (+3.0 per cent per year) and older males.

While deaths decreased significantly over the decade, injuries have increased. There were 38,945 hospitalised injuries in 2016, a nominal increase of 3.6 per cent per year since 2013.

 

Column graph with line showing annual counts of fatalities and annual rates per 100000 population