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

  • Concern at high rate of crashes in Asia
    July 5, 2017
    There is concern at the high rate of road crashes across Asia. An increase in vehicle ownership has seen congestion grow in many Asian cities.
    Read More
  • Road safety challenge for Europe
    December 3, 2012
    Europe’s road safety drive is highlighting key issues - Mike Woof reports In Europe there is a growing understanding that alcohol use amongst drivers still has to be tackled effectively. Accident data reveals that safety standards are improving across most European countries, with steady reductions in numbers of serious injuries and fatalities. But there remains a problem with alcohol use amongst many drivers and it is amongst this group that accident levels have not fallen. In Spain in particular, there ha
    Read More
  • Increasing fatality and injury levels on UK’s roads
    September 27, 2012
    Concern has been expressed in the UK over the release of accident statistics for 2011 that reveal an increase in road fatalities over the previous year. This is the first national rise in road deaths and serious injuries in 17 years. In all 1,901 people died on the UK’s roads in 2011, an increase of 3% of the figures for 2010 while those seriously injured rose 2% to 23,122. Interestingly, the number of fatalities fell for three types of road user, with a fall of 22% for bus and coach occupants, 10% for moto
    Read More
  • Better road safety reduces Europe’s casualty figures
    October 2, 2014
    Improving road safety in the EU has resulted in a drop in the fatality rate. Official figures just released show that the number of people killed on Europe's roads fell by 8% in 2013. This follows on from the drop in fatalities of between 2011 and 2012 and Europe is on track to halve road deaths in the 2010-2020 period Figures released by the European Commission provide grounds for optimism and Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said, “We welcome the reductio
    Read More

Highlighted Content