Counting the high cost of road crashes for Australia

Australia pays a heavy penalty for road crashes, according to a report by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA). In addition to the personal tragedy involved, road crashes cost Australia’s economy a loss of US$23.93 billion (A$29.7 billion) in 2015 according to the AAA. The number of road crashes in Australia climbed 4% between 2006 and 2015 and reached 679,359. However road fatalities dropped by around 25% to 1,205 between 2006 and 2015.
September 15, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Australia pays a heavy penalty for road crashes, according to a report by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA). In addition to the personal tragedy involved, road crashes cost Australia’s economy a loss of US$23.93 billion (A$29.7 billion) in 2015 according to the AAA. The number of road crashes in Australia climbed 4% between 2006 and 2015 and reached 679,359. However road fatalities dropped by around 25% to 1,205 between 2006 and 2015. Improved vehicle safety and occupant protection has played a role in reducing the rate of death and serious injuries. The AAA also pointed out that while the fatality rate has been reduced, the annual cost of crashes has actually remained fairly constant.

Related Content

  • Sri Lanka and India have toughened enforcement on drink driving
    January 8, 2013
    The authorities in India and Sri Lanka are targeting drink driving in a bid to cut crashes. Both countries have high road accident levels and with high annual fatality rates. In a bid to reduce the annual death toll, similar actions are being taken in both nations that focus on tackling drink driving. Data from Sri Lanka show that in 2012, there were 2,190 reported road-related fatalities and of these, negligence and drunk-driving were the main causes of crashes. But despite increased enforcement of traffic
    Read More
  • France shows improving road safety while Germany sees decline
    July 12, 2012
    A very different road safety picture is emerging in two European nations, France and Germany. In France, the road fatality rate fell 4.7% for the month of June 2012, compared with the same period in the previous year. Some 320 people were killed on French roads in June 2012. In May 2012, the road death rate in France was only 0.9% lower than for the same period in the previous year. But in April 2012 the road death rate dropped 22.2% compared with 2011, 9% in March and 25.3% in February.
    Read More
  • Little change in safety for Myanmar’s roads
    November 8, 2019
    There has been little change in road safety standards in Myanmar, despite recent efforts by the authorities. There has been a drop in overall crashes to 12,084 for the first nine months of 2019, compared with 12,979 for the same period in 2018. Serious injuries have also fallen during this period to 18,596 compared with 20,089 for the previous year. However of serious concern is that road deaths have increased to 3,930 for the first nine months of 2019, compared with 3,834 for the same period in 2018. Thi
    Read More
  • Delays blight Brazil’s highway programme
    August 4, 2016
    Around 130 road projects are facing delays in Brazil, according to a data from Brazil's national land transport association ANTT. A report in the newspaper O Estado de Paulo noted that many delays are caused by problems with environmental licences and expropriations, as well as a decrease in road traffic due to the economic crisis. Among projects that were meant to have been completed are those by concession holders Rota do Oeste for the Via 040, Concebra for the Eco 101 and MSVia and Galvão for BR-15
    Read More

Highlighted Content