Car Accident Statistics 2020

Australia has seen over 190,000 fatalities since accurate car record keeping commenced in 1925. Every year since 1970 has seen a decrease in the road death toll with numbers dropping from 3,798 in 1970 to 1,195 in 2019. This decrease can largely be attributed to stricter road safety laws, measures put in place by transit authorities and safer vehicle standards. While this decrease is good news for all Australians on the road, the death toll is still incredibly high, especially on an international scale.

The global average of road fatalities is 18.2 deaths per 100,000 people, with lower income countries suffering a higher prevalence and higher income countries seeing lower rates of fatalities. While Australia’s number of road fatalities is roughly half of those in the US, our fatality rate is nearly twice as bad as the UK’s. Australia is ranked 15th out of 31 OECD countries for deaths per 100,000 population. Europe has some of the lowest fatality rates in the world largely in thanks to measures put in place by the European Road Safety Charter.

In the past 30 years road fatalities have dropped by 60% in Australia. The largest reductions were in passenger related fatalities, which are down by 72% over the 30 year period, followed by pedestrians, down 63% and cyclists down 63% over the same time period. Since 1987 Australia’s fatalities per 100,000 people dropped from 17 to 4.6. The Northern Territory saw a significant reduction from 53.1 road fatalities per 100,000 people to 20.22 but still stands as the state with the highest fatality rate in the nation. The ACT has seen the most success in reducing their fatalities from 13.6 to 2.14 fatalities per 100,000 people.

In the last decade Australia has seen a 24% increase in the total count of vehicles registered, meaning that there is a lot more cars on Australian roads. Since 2008 motorcycle registrations increased by 62% and light commercial vehicles increased by 36%. These increases in vehicles on the road make the reduction in road fatalities all the more impressive. However there is still a lot of work to be done to reduce the statistics further.

Rates of injuries sustained in car accidents have been on the rise since 2001. There was an 8.6% increase in the number of hospitalised injuries in the time period from 2006 to 2013. Injuries sustained in road accidents are 27 times higher than those of fatality rates and there are concerns that this number will continue to rise. One possible cause for the increase in injuries is that the focus of transport safety technologies in Australia is on life saving strategies rather than injury prevention. Reducing the severity of accidents on the road could be contributing to the reduction in fatalities but could be also responsible for the increase in injuries.

Injuries account for 40% of the total social cost of roach crashes in Australia with money allocated between disability related costs, medical expenses and out of work productivity costs. In 2016 the total costs came in over $33 billion, a 22% increase from 2006. It is hard to maintain accurate injury reporting across all states and territories, as some road crash injuries are not reported at all, treated only by paramedics or private doctors or are not admitted to hospital.

Heavy truck accidents cause considerable more damage than normal vehicle accidents. Contributing factors are the time it takes trucks to respond to unexpected road conditions because of their total weight. It takes a truck considerably more time to slow down and stop than it does for a regular vehicle.

Over 78% of crashes with heavy truck involvement are classified as multiple vehicle in 2018 and only 16% are counted as single vehicle incidents. Comparing this to the statistic that 38% of non-truck involved road crashes are classified as single vehicle, reveals that truck drivers are much less likely to crash on their own than normal car drivers. 10% of all road crash fatalities in 2018 involved heavy trucks, but it is estimated that only 20% of those crashes are attributed as the truck driver’s fault, demonstrating that on average truck drivers are safer drivers than other vehicle drivers.

Analysis of state by state statistics reveal that the number of fatalities per state is fairly consistent with the size of the population of each state, indicating the number of cars on the state’s roads could be a factor in crashes. NSW, the state with the highest population in Australia (32%), saw the highest number of fatalities in 2018 with 31% of all fatalities. However the ACT had the lowest number of fatalities in 2018 at 1% despite having only the second lowest population (2%). The Northern Territory, which has the lowest population of any state or territory at just 1% of the population, had 4% of all fatalities in Australia in 2018.

Males made up 73% of all road fatalities in Australia from 2013-2018. Males were overrepresented in crash categories where the road user was in control of the crash situation such as drivers, cyclists and motorcyclists, indicating a potential higher rate of risk taking behaviours in men than in women.

From 2008 to 2018 there has been a reduction in road fatalities in the under 40 age bracket. In 2008 they accounted for 56% of all road fatalities, which has since reduced to 46% in 2018. Road fatalities in the 40 and over bracket have risen from 2008 at 44% to 53% in 2018.

17-25 year olds saw a 7% decrease over the decade while people over the age of 75 saw a 1% increase in fatalities. Measures to educate younger drivers on the risks of dangerous driving could be a contributing factor to the decrease in fatalities. Longer and more intensive learning processes and tests could also be a factor.

The top four causes of fatal car accidents in Australia in 2016 were speeding, alcohol consumption, driver fatigue and inattention/distraction while driving. All four factors are easily prevented and within human control. As cars become more automated there is hope that a reduction in road fatalities will be observed. The National Road Safety Strategy aims to educate Australians on the dangers of these factors as part of their action plan to reduce road fatalities in Australia, as well as imposing stricter monitoring and punishment processes for those found committing these offences.

Speeding is the main cause of fatalities resulting from road crashes. Speeding vehicles are more difficult to manoeuvre than slower vehicles, and the faster you drive, the harder you will collide with other objects. Driving at higher speeds increases the risk of crashes because of the shorter response time the driver has to any unexpected road conditions, it also increases the severity of any collision. 42% of fatal crashes in 2018 took place at speeds of 100km or more.

Alcohol consumption can impair the body’s ability to process and react to certain stimuli. Drinking can affect a driver’s concentration, coordination, reflexes and ability to make correct judgements and decisions, all of which are necessary when driving a vehicle. Australian law dictates that the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration is 0.5, while learners and provisional drivers must have a BAC of 0.00. There were a total of 14,730,351 Random breath tests conducted in 2018, with 103,112 positive results.

Accidents that occur when the driver is fatigued usually happen when the driver is either sleep deprived or is driving during their normal hours of sleep. Drivers are four times more likely to have a fatal crash as the result of fatigue between the hours of 10pm till dawn. Fatigue can impair a driver’s judgement and performance, as well as reduce their attention and reflexes.

Inattention and driver distraction has become more of a risk since the invention of the smartphone. Studies have shown that using a mobile phone while driving increases the risk of crashing by 4 times. The law states that holding a mobile phone while driving is illegal unless passing the phone to another person in the car. Other distractions can include adjusting vehicle settings, eating and drinking, passengers and external distractions.

The most common type of car accident from 2015 to 2017 was non-collisions on a curve.

Collisions with stationary objects are often the result of inattention and speeding while driving. Collisions with parked cars seem to be the most common type of stationary collision.

Failure to give way accidents occur when drivers misjudge the distance and speed of approaching traffic and inattention to their surroundings.

Poor visibility and miscalculating are large contributing factors to collisions that occur while reversing. As more and more cars are fitted with reverse cameras, the statistics for this particular type of accident will hopefully decrease.

Hitting an animal accounts for 5% of all collision types and the most common animal collision in Australia are those collisions that involve kangaroos. Kangaroo collisions account for 9 out of 10 road accidents involving animals. See our kangaroo car accident statistics.

Since 2008 the percentage of fatalities involving drivers has remained the same at roughly half of all road fatalities. Motorcyclist fatalities have also remained at 17% of total fatalities while there has been a slight reduction of passenger fatalities. Passenger fatalities still make up the second most common type of fatality in Australia at 18%. Pedal cyclists and pedestrian fatalities have risen one percent each over the 10 year period.