Skip to main content

Australia's improved safety levels

The authorities in Australia are releasing data showing an improvement in road safety in the country, with road deaths continuing to fall.
March 23, 2012 Read time: 1 min
The authorities in Australia are releasing data showing an improvement in road safety in the country, with road deaths continuing to fall.

There were 1,292 fatalities on Australia’s roads in 2011, a 4.4% reduction from the previous year according to data collated by the 4215 Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economies. The improvement in safety was particularly notable for younger drivers in the 17-25 age group, with road fatalities 34% and 22% lower than in 2007 and in 2010 respectively. This is of note as younger drivers typically feature the highest risk rate for drivers.

Accident levels remained the same in some parts of the country however and in 2011, six deaths were listed in Canberra while 288 deaths were reported in Victoria, similar to the figure in 2010. Only Queensland saw an increase in fatalities from the previous year, up 8% to 269 deaths compared with the figures for 2010. Tougher enforcement and a series of safety campaigns have been particularly effective in reducing accident levels in the country overall.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Poor road safety worldwide poses a cause for concern
    December 7, 2018
    Poor road safety worldwide is a serious cause for concern, with thousands being injured or killed across the glove every single day. The issue is highlighted by a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This indicates road traffic deaths continue to rise, with annual road fatalities now reaching 1.35 million, compared with 1.25 million just three years ago. The WHO Global status report on road safety 2018 highlights that road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of children and young peo
  • Portugal's road safety initiative
    April 12, 2012
    The Portuguese experience with road safety has proved that planning, development, introduction, and hard work do pay off in the end. Paulo Marques Augusto, president of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), explained that in the last 10 years a decrease of over 50% has been achieved in the number of fatalities on the road network despite a continuing growth in traffic demand (there are five million vehicles in Portugal), and a similar reduction in travel time on most of the connections between Lisbon a
  • Concern over seat belt use in Europe
    November 1, 2012
    Concern has been expressed over recidivist motorists in Europe who continue to flout seatbelt laws, despite strong evidence that they risk serious injury or death. According to recent police safety data, results from a recent pan-European seatbelt control operation show that nearly 100,000 drivers and passengers were detected not wearing seatbelts. A total of 25 countries took part in the operation, which was co-ordinated by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL). Of the final total of 97,489 detectio
  • Road safety’s slow gain in Europe
    June 27, 2018
    Europe is seeing an improvement in road safety, but at a slower rate than hoped for. Official data shows that 25,250 people were killed in road crashes in the EU during 2017, a 2% drop from the figure recorded for 2016. Furthermore, road deaths have dropped just 3% in the last four years in the EU, with casualty reduction targets not being met. There are 32 countries listed in the PIN programme intended to cut road deaths and 22 of these nations did record improvements in road safety. Estonia managed to