Skip to main content

Australia’s road safety improvement sees record low for fatalities

Continued road safety improvements are being seen in Australia, following the implementation of a series of strategic moves. In New South Wales, the latest official data shows that road fatalities for 2014 were the lowest since 1923 and down some 40% compared with 10 years ago. Some cause for concern however has been seen with the 45% increase in deaths caused by the non-use of seat belts. There were 309 road deaths in New South Wales in 2014, compared with 333 in 2013. Across the other side of the count
January 5, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Continued road safety improvements are being seen in Australia, following the implementation of a series of strategic moves. In New South Wales, the latest official data shows that road fatalities for 2014 were the lowest since 1923 and down some 40% compared with 10 years ago. Some cause for concern however has been seen with the 45% increase in deaths caused by the non-use of seat belts. There were 309 road deaths in New South Wales in 2014, compared with 333 in 2013.

Across the other side of the country in Western Australia, the authorities are also taking steps to tackle bad driving and improve road safety. The police plan to issue warning letters to those drivers deemed a safety risk, as part of a strategy intended to reduce the number of road deaths in the state. The number plate of the drivers will also be flagged on a computer system. In several rural areas, people who have various driving convictions and accumulate a large number of demerit points will receive a personally delivered warning letter from the police.

Related Content

  • UK achieves road safety success
    December 10, 2015
    The UK has the second safest road network in the world, beaten only by Sweden according to the latest traffic data analysis from the Department for Transport (DfT). Fatalities from road crashes account for 28.3 deaths/million of population in the UK, compared with 28 fatalities/million of population in Sweden according to the DfT data. It should be noted too that the UK has a larger population and a far higher population density, as well as 35.6 million registered vehicles (an increase of 41% since 1994) an
  • Road safety improves in Italy
    March 22, 2012
    The latest official statistics from the Italian authorities show an improving road safety situation. Italy's statistics institute Istat has data showing that road accidents decreased by 1.9% to 211,404 in 2010. Meanwhile the number of people injured dropped by 1.5% to 302,735, and fatalities were down 3.5% to 4,090. Despite having failed to achieve the 50% fatalities reduction target set in 2001, the country saved €25 billion in social costs. Accidents decreased by 1% on highways, although fatalities rose b
  • Increase in road crashes in the Netherlands
    November 1, 2016
    After several years of declining numbers of road crashes and improving safety statistics, the Netherlands is seeing an increase in road fatalities. Research by Dutch insurance umbrella body Verbond van Verzekeraars reveals that the number of crashes in the country is now increasing once more. During 2015 there were 502,000 personal claims following road crashes in the country, coampred with 462,000 in the previous year. Meanwhile the road fatality rate increased from 570 in 2014 to 621 in 2015. Similarly, t
  • Multi-tasking drivers are at greater risk of crashing
    May 2, 2019
    Research from the US reveals that multi-tasking drivers are at a greater risk of crashes. The information comes from US driver risk management firm Lytx, which announced new data regarding commercial driving and distraction during the National Safety Council's Distracted Driving Awareness Month, in April 2019. A minimum of nine people in the US die in crashes due to distracted driving every day. Distraction is the second leading cause of fatal truck crashes in commercial vehicle fleet. Lytx has found that 2