Road Traffic Accidents in NSW–2000 Statistical Statement: Year Ended 31 December 2000 ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 STATISTICAL STATEMENT: Year ended 31 December 2000 ROADS AND TRAFFIC AUTHORITY ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY BRANCH November 2001 Prepared by the Information Section Road Safety Strategy Branch Centennial Plaza 260 Elizabeth St Surry Hills Telephone: (02) 9218 6888 Facsimile: (02) 9218 6619 Postal address: PO Box K198 Haymarket NSW 1238 E-mail: [email protected] Further information: For further information concerning traffic accident statistics for New South Wales, write to: The Manager Information Section Road Safety Strategy Branch Roads and Traffic Authority PO Box K198 Haymarket NSW 1238 ISSN 0155-2546 RTA/Pub. 01.122 © COPYRIGHT ROADS AND TRAFFIC AUTHORITY 2001 Extracts from this publication may be reproduced provided the source is fully acknowledged. ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 - i FOREWORD The year 2000 proved a challenging one for road safety in New South Wales. The trend in the road toll, which had been declining throughout the 1990s, began to reverse in the latter part of 1999, and continued on this path during the year 2000. The Christmas-New Year break was of particular concern, with a marked increase in fatalities. Fortunately, there have been far fewer fatalities to date in 2001, and we will strive to maintain this trend. The importance of a solid information base becomes particularly clear when the road toll is causing fresh concern. Throughout 1999 and 2000, the RTA and other road safety organisations made valuable use of the databases providing the statistics for this publication. Analysis revealed important information about road-related deaths and injuries, and the Government was able to respond by introducing some effective countermeasures. For example, our statistics showed that Western Sydney was recording a marked increase in fatal acci- dents, particularly involving young people. The RTA partnered with Police and the Motor Accidents Au- thority on a road safety and enforcement program aimed at youth in that area. Since the instigation of this program, there has been a significant decline in fatalities in Western Sydney. After the Christmas period I appointed a Road Safety Task Force, with Government and community membership, to recommend road safety new initiatives. Those recommendations have now been ac- cepted and incorporated into future planning. A road user behavioural study was also commissioned. Both of these initiatives extensively used data such as those presented in this publication. Neither the NSW Government nor its agencies presume that the declining road toll is solely a result of our efforts. Our endeavours can only be effective with the co-operation and support of the New South Wales community. When I attend conferences and public forums on road safety, I am always impressed with the quality of the ideas and the level of enthusiasm presented by the community. Road Traffic Accidents in NSW – 2000 is a valuable addition to our information base on road safety issues and I am sure that it will assist organisations, interest groups and individuals in the campaign to reduce the road toll. Carl Scully Minister for Transport Minister for Roads ii - ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 SUMMARY DATA FOR 2000 Compared with 1999 Number Percentage Number Percentage Change Change ACCIDENTS Fatal accidents 543 1.0 +37 +7.3 Injury accidents 21,863 41.3 +1,991 +10.0 Non-casualty accidents 30,508 57.7 -1,980 -6.1 Total recorded accidents 52,914 100.0 +48 +0.1 CASUALTIES Killed 603 2.0 +26 +4.5 Injured 28,812 98.0 +2,064 +7.7 Total casualties 29,415 100.0 +2,090 +7.6 VEHICLES ON REGISTER1 3,644,400 99,500 +2.8 Fatalities per 10,000 vehicles 1.65 +1.7 LICENCES ON ISSUE2 4,372,400 71,500 +1.7 Fatalities per 10,000 licences 1.38 +2.8 POPULATION OF STATE3 6,463,500 66,800 +1.0 Fatalities per 100,000 persons 9.33 +3.4 1 Excludes tractors, trailers, caravans, trader plates, plant and equipment. As at 30 June 2 Excludes Learner's Licences. As at 30 June 3 Estimated resident population. As at 30 June. Source - Australian Bureau of Statistics ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 - iii MAIN POINTS FOR 2000 • There were 52,914 recorded road traffic accidents in New South Wales during 2000 resulting in 29,415 casualties, of which 603 were killed. • The estimated cost to the community of these road traffic accidents was $2,460 million. • The number of persons killed was up by 26 (5%) on the previous year and was the highest annual fatality total since 1995. The number of persons injured was up by 2,064 (8%). • The number of pedal cyclists killed (six) was the equal lowest total since records began in 1938. There were also six pedal cyclists killed in 1992. • The average number of persons killed per fatal accident was the lowest since 1997. • Country roads accounted for 31% of all accidents, but 58% of fatal accidents and 33% of injury accidents. • At least 22% of motor vehicle occupants killed were not wearing available seat belts. • Not one of the six pedal cyclists killed failed to wear a helmet, but at least 19% of those injured were not wearing a helmet. • Thirty-seven per cent of the pedestrians killed were aged 60 or more, although only 17% of the population is represented by people of this age. • Amongst those accidents in which the alcohol involvement was known, alcohol was a contributing factor in 44% of fatal accidents on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, 21% of all fatal accidents, 9% of injury accidents and 7% of all accidents. • Of the 1,083 motor vehicle drivers and motorcycle riders who were killed or injured with an illegal blood alcohol concentration, 52% were in the high range (0.15 g/100mL or more). • Accidents which involved speeding represented at least 38% of fatal accidents and 16% of all accidents. • Thirty-four per cent of speeding drivers and motorcycle riders involved in fatal accidents were males aged 17-25. In contrast, only 4% were females in the above age group. Twenty-six per cent of all drivers and motorcycle riders involved in fatal accidents were aged 17-25. • Fatigue was assessed as being involved in at least 20% of fatal accidents. Twenty-one per cent of the fatigued drivers and motorcycle riders involved in fatal accidents were males aged 17-25. iv - ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 INTERPRETING TABLES CORRECTLY It is essential to understand which particular data items are being counted in a table in order to avoid mistakes in interpreting them. CONVENTION FOR TABLE HEADINGS The data items being counted in a table are always mentioned first in the table heading. The classification variables then follow within the heading. Example 1. Suppose you wish to know the number of car drivers aged 17-20 years who were killed. If you looked at Table 16a, on page 23, saw the word fatal in the heading and assumed that the table was counting persons killed, you would deduce that 91 car drivers aged 17-20 were killed. That is not the correct answer! Table 16a is counting motor vehicle controllers involved in fatal accidents regardless of whether those controllers were themselves killed. To determine the number of car drivers aged 17-20 who were killed you would need to use Table 27a, on page 64. This table is counting casualties and the degree of casualty is the category killed. The correct answer to the above question, as indicated in this table, is 40. Example 2. Suppose you wish to know how many injury accidents involved at least one motorcycle. If you looked at Table 11, on page 19, and did not note that the table is counting motor vehicles involved in accidents, you might be tempted to assume that the answer to your question was 1,999. That is not the correct answer! There can be more than one motorcycle involved in a particular accident so to answer this question you need to look at a table which is counting accidents, not motor vehicles involved in accidents. The correct answer of 1,966 is to be found from Table 10 which is counting accidents and casualties for particular types of accidents. Example 3. Don’t make assumptions about the nature of persons killed or injured that are not justified by the information presented. Table 10 tells us the numbers of casualties from different types of accidents but does not imply anything about the road user classes of those casualties. For example, when considering casualties from pedal cycle accidents you cannot assume that all casualties were pedal cycle riders or pedal cycle passengers. Some may be pedestrians or even truck drivers. A little lateral thinking is necessary to understand all the implications! ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 - v CONTENTS SUMMARY DATA FOR 2000....................................................................................................ii MAIN POINTS FOR 2000 ........................................................................................................iii INTERPRETING TABLES CORRECTLY............................................................................ iv PREFACE Scope of accident statistics............................................................................................ix How accident data are processed .................................................................................ix Special Notes...................................................................................................................xi Convention for table headings........................................................................................xi Definitions and explanatory notes............................................................................ xii-xiii Criteria for determining speeding and fatigue involvement........................................xiv ACCIDENT AND CASUALTY TRENDS Table 1 Trends in New South Wales 1950, 1955, 1960-2000.............................3 Figure 1 Fatality rate per 10,000 vehicles, 10,000 licences and 100,000 population for years 1950 to 2000 in NSW ......................4 Table 2 Comparison with other Australian States and other countries................5 Table 3 Deaths within NSW, causes of death, sex, age for 1999......................6 Table 4 Fatalities, year, month.................................................................................7 Table 5 Casualties, year, road user class, degree of casualty .........................8-9 TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN 2000 1. TIME DISTRIBUTION OF ACCIDENTS Table 6 Accidents, casualties, holiday periods, degree of accident, degree of casualty...................................................13 Table 7a Fatal accidents, time period, day of week..............................................14 Table 7b Total accidents, time period, day of week .............................................14 Table 7c Accidents, time period, degree of accident.............................................15 (continued) vi - ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2000 2. ACCIDENT TYPES Figure 2 Accidents, road user movement............................................................... 16 Table 8 Accidents, object hit in first impact, degree of accident.......................17 Table 9 Single motor vehicle accidents, vehicle type, degree of accident..............................................................17 3. MOTOR VEHICLE TYPES Table 10 Accidents, casualties, type of accident, degree of accident, degree of casualty...................................................18 Table 11 Motor vehicles involved and involvement rate, vehicle type, degree of accident..............................................................19 4. FACTORS & ERRORS POSSIBLY CONTRIBUTING TO ACCIDENTS Table 12 Accidents, factors, degree of accident .................................................... 19 Table 13 Accidents, degree of accident, alcohol involvement, time period.......... 20 Table 14 Accidents, degree of accident, alcohol involvement, urbanisation.........21 Table 15a Accidents, alcohol involvement, degree of accident............................... 22 Table 15b Accidents, speeding involvement, degree of accident............................22 Table 15c Accidents, fatigue involvement, degree of accident................................22 5. CONTROLLERS IN ACCIDENTS Table 16 Motor vehicle controllers involved, degree of accident, road user class, sex, age a Degree of accident: Fatal.........................................................................23 b Degree of accident: Injury ........................................................................24 c Degree of accident: Non-Casualty............................................................25 d Degree of accident: All Accidents............................................................26 Table 17 Motor vehicle controllers involved, road user class, licence status, degree of accident...........................................................27 Table 18 Motor vehicle controllers involved, degree of accident, blood alcohol concentration, sex, age a Degree of accident: Fatal.........................................................................28 b Degree of accident: Injury ........................................................................29 c Degree of accident: Non-Casualty............................................................30 d Degree of accident: All Accidents............................................................31 Table 19 Speeding motor vehicle controllers involved, degree of accident, sex, age...................................................................32 Table 20 Fatigued motor vehicle controllers involved, degree of accident, sex, age...................................................................33