Car Accidents Survey and Statistics 2023

Car crashes are an unfortunate but common part of everyday life. Sadly in Australia, there were 1,194 road crash deaths in 2022 which was a 5.8% increase from the year prior. [1]

Rather than avoiding driving entirely, staying safe on the road can be as simple as understanding driving habits and staying vigilant every time you get behind the wheel.

To help understand how road crashes affect the lives of everyday Australians, we collected government statistics and surveyed 978 Australian drivers to get a better perspective on the issue.

We also compared our data gathered in 2023 with similar data gathered in our Car Accidents Survey and Statistics 2021 to see trends and changes throughout the years.

Speeding is either travelling faster than the legal limit or faster than road conditions allow.

Read our Speeding Survey and Statistics to learn more.

Drivers can be easily distracted by phones, eating, drinking, smoking, vaping, applying makeup and plenty of other common day-to-day things.

Read our Distracted Driving Survey and Statistics to learn more.

Fatigued driving can be due to a lack of quality sleep, too much driving, a lack of stimulation, or a busy social or work schedule.

Read our Fatigued Driving Survey and Statistics to learn more.

One to two standard drinks can be all it takes to push people over the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit.

Read our Drink Driving Survey and Statistics to learn more.

Although the rate of road deaths on national roads has remained largely flat over the past decade, the road death toll in 2022 saw an annual rise of 5.8%. [1]

There were also some significant year-on-year rises of road deaths across states and territories with Tasmania seeing a 45.7% annual increase and the Australian Capital Territory having a 63.6% rise over 12 months.

In 2022, there were 1,194 deaths on Australian roads, with the majority happening in the 100 km per hour speed zone. [1]

The second most common speed where crashes happened in 2022 was between the 60 and 70 km per hour mark followed by 80 to 90 km per hour. 

Speeding continues to be one the leading causes of car crashes in Australia, accounting for a third of all road deaths in Queensland in 2022 followed by drinking and drug driving. [3]

Meanwhile, it was a similar situation in New South Wales where 38.9% of road deaths in 2022 were speeding-related, while almost one in five road deaths were due to fatigue. [4]

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

Almost half of all respondents in Australia said they drove on congested roads at least once a week. Meanwhile, one in 10 of those surveyed said they drove on congested roads every day. 

Those surveyed aged 50 to 54 were the most likely to be stuck in traffic with 21.3% saying they drove on congested roads every day.

Most of those surveyed in Australia felt safest driving on motorways and freeways with 48% putting this as their first choice.

Main roads were the next safest choice for those surveyed followed by country and rural roads. Suburban streets were where those surveyed felt the least safe driving with 34% ranking it last.

This dropped significantly from the results found in 2021 when suburban streets were rated the second safest place to drive by those who were surveyed. 

The majority of those surveyed (60%) said they believed speeding was the top cause of car collisions, with tailgating or aggressive driving coming in second (37%). 

Those surveyed said poorly designed roads and intersections would be the third most likely reason for car crashes according to 28% of respondents.

This is up from the responses of those surveyed in 2021 where poorly designed roads and intersections were ranked the least likely cause of crashes. 

Failing to give way and driving through red lights were ranked fourth and fifth most likely causes of crashes for those surveyed in 2023. 

This ranked higher than distracted driving, driving tired and driving drunk which those surveyed said they believed were the three least likely causes of most road crashes.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

More than one in three respondents (34.6%) said they had never been in a crash, while the minority (2.6%) said they’d been in five or more crashes. 

More than half of those aged between 18 to 24 (55.8%) and 25 to 29 (52.48%) who were surveyed said they had never been in a car crash. This is compared to 23.2% of those aged 60 to 64 and 28.21% of those aged 50 to 54 who were surveyed who said they’d never been in a crash.

^Respondents could choose all the responses that applied to them.

*Only those who said they had been in a collision responded to this question.

The large majority of those who were surveyed who said they had been in a collision said it was a nose-to-tail collision (87.2%).

The second most common form of car collision in those who were surveyed was being side-swiped (57.6%), while 40.6% said they had a collision with a stationary object or vehicle. 

Those aged 18 to 24 who were surveyed were most likely to have a collision with a stationary object (34.2%), while those aged 30 to 34 (62.7%) and those aged 50 to 54 (65.4%) who were surveyed were the most likely to have a nose-to-tail collision. 

Western Australian respondents were most likely to be side-swiped according to 41.3% of the respondents, while those in New South Wales who were surveyed were most likely to have a collision while reversing (18.6%).

Those who drove in congested areas more than five times a week and those who drove in congestion every day were the most likely to be in nose-to-tail incidents with more than 60% of each group who were surveyed saying it happened to them. 

When compared to the findings in 2021, the number of people surveyed who said they’d been involved in any type of crash increased across the board.

Speeding continues to be a leading cause of crashes

In 2022, there was a 5.8% increase in the annual number of road deaths on Australian roads compared to the year prior. One of the leading causes of road deaths, in some states, continues to be the level of speeding.

The majority of the road deaths in 2021 happened in the 100 km per hour speed zone. While in Queensland and New South Wales, more than a third of all road deaths in each state were due to speeding. 

Most of those who were surveyed (60%) said they believed speeding was the number one cause of crashes in Australia, with tailgating and aggressive driving ranking second. 

Nose-to-tail crashes were the most common

The majority of those surveyed said they had never been in a crash. However, for those surveyed who had been in a crash, nose-to-tail incidents were the most likely type of collision.

Those surveyed who drove in congested areas more than five times a week were the most likely to be in nose-to-tail incidents with more than 60% saying it happened to them. 

Motorways and freeways continue to be where drivers feel safest

The majority of those surveyed said they felt safest driving on motorways and freeways, which was the same response found in our 2021 survey. 

In 2023, those who were surveyed said they felt least safe driving on suburban streets which was a significant drop from 2021 when it was rated the second safest place to drive by those surveyed.