During the 1990s, around 2000 people per year died and over 20 000 per year sustained serious injuries on Australian roads. When the human cost is considered in combination with associated property damage and the costs of the infrastructure required to deal with road crashes, it is clear that society bears a huge overall cost. Determining the magnitude of this cost and its components provides a better understanding of the benefits of activities that reduce the incidence and severity of road crashes.

• Road Crash Costs in Australia
  
  report_102.pdf
  (764 KB)

The Federal Government has, since 1990–91, allocated substantial resources through its Black Spot Program to reduce the number and severity of crashes at black spot locations as part of its overall road safety strategy. Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics (BTCE) Report 90 Evaluation of the Black Spot Program published in 1995 evaluated the program that operated from 1990–91 to 1992–93 inclusive.

• The Black Spot Program 1996–2002: An Evaluation of the First Three Years
  
  report_104.pdf
  (4.45 MB)

On rural roads, the speed that a driver chooses will affect their travel time, vehicle operating costs and crash costs. Recent Austroads valuations of these costs are used in this paper to estimate the total economic cost to society of travelling at different speeds on roads with different crash rates. Critical in this analysis is estimating the change in crash cost that would result from a change in vehicle speeds. This report assumes a 10 km/h change in average speeds produces a 30% change in crash costs based on international evidence. For a hypothetical mix of cars and trucks on a rural road with an average crash cost, the speed that produces the lowest total of travel time cost, vehicle operating cost and crash cost is between 90 and 100 km/h. On a hypothetical road with a low crash rate (and a crash cost one quarter of the average), the optimum speed is between 110 and 120 km/h. Achieving different speed regimes is not just a matter of changing the posted speed limit. The paper concludes by suggesting that ITS technology could be used to vary and manage speeds.

• Road Speed Limits: Economic Effects of Allowing more Flexibility
  
  wp_059.pdf
  (274.7 KB)

Staff paper given by Lyn Martin to the 28th Australasian Transport Research Forum, 28–30 September 2005, Sofitel Wentworth Hotel, Sydney.

• External Accident Costs of Motor Vehicles Revisited
  
  sp_002_External_Accident_Costs_of_Motor_Vehicles_Revisited.pdf
  (822.47 KB)

Paper given to the 30th Australasian Transport Research Forum, 25–27 September 2007, Langham Hotel, Melbourne. Authors: Tim Risbey, Hema de Silva, Alicia Tong.

• Road Crash Cost Estimation: A Proposal Incorporating a Decade of Conceptual and Empirical Developments
  
  sp_001_Road_Crash_Cost.pdf
  (980.91 KB)

This information sheet contains a historical overview of road death statistics in Australian from 1925, when road deaths were first recorded, to 2008.

• Road Deaths in Australia 1925–2008
  
  is_038.pdf
  (646.08 KB)

Road crashes impose large human and financial costs on society and substantial investments are made in infrastructure and safety programs to reduce road trauma. The cost of road crashes is important to the safety debate in Australia, and the unit values particularly for a fatality, injury or cost of a fatal crash are key inputs into policy development and cost-benefit analysis for safety programs and infrastructure projects. The social cost of road crashes in 2006 was an estimated $17.85 billion (1.7 per cent of GDP). This was a real decrease of 7.5 per cent compared to 1996 (2006 dollars). Estimated human losses were approximately $2.4 million per fatality, losses for a hospitalised injury were approximately $214 000 per injury (including disability-related costs), and losses for non-hospitalised injury were approximately $2200 per injury. These new estimates of the cost of road crashes update previous estimates for 1996 (Bureau of Transport Economics (BTE) Road crash costs in Australia, Report 102).

• Cost of road crashes in Australia 2006
  
  report_118.pdf
  (4.23 MB)

An earlier paper (Gargett et al 2009) showed, by very preliminary analysis of the Victorian road fatality rate, that a combination of increased seat belt wearing, random breath testing (RBT) and speed cameras explained almost all of the reduction in the Victorian road fatality rate since the late 1960s. The current analysis 1) extends the analysis to all states, 2) uses new estimates of vehicle kilometres travelled to derive an "exposure to death" variable and 3) includes actual measurements of state rates of seat belt wearing, as well as RBT and speed camera enforcement back to the inception of the programs in each state. The results of the analysis confirm the findings of the earlier paper seat belt wearing, RBT and speed cameras can explain almost all of the variation in fatality rates in all states since the late 1960s.

• Effectiveness of Measures to Reduce Road Fatality Rates
  
  is_039.pdf
  (1.92 MB)

This information sheet aims to provide some statistical snapshots of the characteristics of fatal road crashes in Australia in the last two decades, 1990 to 2009, and complements the road safety statistical summary produced by BITRE each year which presents other key time series. It includes some insights into the types of crashes prevalent during this period, the major factors and the road user groups most frequently involved.

• Fatal Road Crashes in Australia in the 1990s and 2000s: Crash Types and Major Factors
  
  is_041.pdf
  (1.97 MB)