Get the Facts

Consider the Facts

Of the 20 million Australians who inhabit this continent, all of us at one time or another are motor vehicle drivers, passengers, pedestrians or cyclists. 

While we get enormous benefits from the roads, we pay a high price.

Get the Facts

• General

• Roads

• Vehicles

• Seniors

• Kids

• Cyclists

• Pedestrians

• Costs

• Motorcycles

General facts

Every year on Australian roads there are more than:

• 600,000 reported road crashes;

• 200,000 reported injuries as a result of road crashes;

• 22,000 serious as a result of road crashes requiring long term care and treatment; and

• 1,600 people killed in road crashes.

The road toll is not just a statistic.  It involves sudden loss, pain, suffering and financial hardship.  It changes the lives of thousands of Australian families forever.

Our roadsides are littered with memorials to loved ones lost.

More than 30 years ago, Australia's road toll began a dive from over 3,000 deaths every year, to around 1,750. Around 7 years ago that trend stopped and since then, the road toll has been basically stagnant.

In 2003, people most commonly killed on the roads were young people, particularly males.  In fact, road crashes are the biggest killer of people aged between 18 and 25 years. 

While the population of males and females in Australia is similar, males are more than 2.5 times more likely to be killed on the roads.

The most commonly killed people on the roads are drivers and passengers, followed by pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists.

Research shows that nearly 40% of deaths on Australian roads are the result of vehicles hitting roadside objects such as trees or poles - things which are easily protected using guard rails.

Monthly Fatalities Graph

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Annual Fatalities Graph

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Deaths by Age and Sex

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Deaths by Road User Type

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The Costs

Road crashes cost the Australian community $40 million every day or $15 billion every year, which is:

• Equivalent to Australia’s defense budget

• Three times Australia’s higher education budget

• 3% of Australia’s Gross Domestic Product

Each fatal road crash costs the community more than $1.7 million.

While the human cost in pain, suffering, and personal loss from road crashes is incalculable, the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics (BTRE) estimates that crashes cost the Australian economy more than $15 billion per annum.

Australia has set a target to reduce the annual road fatality rate per 100,000 population by 40 per cent between 1999 and 2010.

The National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) shows that by 2010 we can save 700 lives every year by improving the safety of the roads (332 lives), improving the safety of vehicles (175 lives), improving driver behaviour (158 lives), and adopting smarter safety technology (35 lives).