Road Traffic Accidents in NSW - 2001 STATISTICAL STATEMENT: YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001 ii - ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2001 ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2001 STATISTICAL STATEMENT: Year ended 31 December 2001 ROADS AND TRAFFIC AUTHORITY ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY BRANCH January 2003 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 Internet: www.rta.nsw.gov.au 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. 03.012 © COPYRIGHT ROADS AND TRAFFIC AUTHORITY 2003 Extracts from this publication may be reproduced provided the source is fully acknowledged. ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2001 - i SUMMARY DATA FOR 2001 Compared with 2000 Number Percentage Number Percentage Change Change ACCIDENTS Fatal accidents 486 0.9 -57 -10.5 Injury accidents 22,682 43.8 +819 +3.7 Non-casualty accidents 28,646 55.3 -1,862 -6.1 Total recorded accidents 51,814 100.0 -1,100 -2.1 CASUALTIES Killed 524 1.7 -79 -13.1 Injured 29,913 98.3 +1,101 +3.8 Total casualties 30,437 100.0 +1,022 +3.5 VEHICLES ON REGISTER1 3,737,300 +92,900 +2.5 Fatalities per 10,000 vehicles 1.40 -15.3 LICENCES ON ISSUE2 4,394,600 +22,100 +0.5 Fatalities per 10,000 licences 1.19 -13.5 POPULATION OF STATE3 6,532,500 +70,000 +1.1 Fatalities per 100,000 persons 8.02 -14.0 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 ii - ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2001 ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2001 - iii MAIN POINTS FOR 2001 * There were 51,814 recorded road traffic accidents in New South Wales during 2001. Of these, 23,168 were casualty accidents. There were 524 persons killed and 29, 913 injured. * The estimated cost to the community of these road traffic accidents was $2,580 million. * The number of persons killed was down by 79 (13%) on the previous year and was the lowest annual fatality total since 1947. The number of persons injured was up by 1,101 (4%) on the previous year. * The number of pedestrians killed was the lowest since such records began in 1938. * The average number of persons killed per fatal accident was the lowest since 1960. * Country roads accounted for 32% of all accidents, but 59% of fatal accidents and 33% of injury accidents. * At least 25% of motor vehicle occupants killed were not wearing available seat belts. * Of the 13 pedal cyclists killed, six failed to wear a helmet. * Thirty-six 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 51% of fatal accidents on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, 23% of all fatal accidents, 9% of injury accidents and 7% of all accidents. * Of the 1,055 motor vehicle drivers and motorcycle riders who were killed or injured with an illegal blood alcohol concentration, 50% were in the high range (0.15 g/100mL or more). * Accidents which involved speeding represented at least 43% of fatal accidents and 17% of all accidents. * Thirty-nine per cent of speeding drivers and motorcycle riders involved in fatal accidents were males aged 17-25. In contrast, only two per cent were females in the above age group. Twenty-four 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 15% of fatal accidents. Twenty-five per cent of the fatigued drivers and motorcycle riders involved in fatal accidents were males aged 30-39. iv - ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES 2001 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 78 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 30. 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 2,087. 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 2,058 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 2001 - v CONTENTS SUMMARY DATA FOR 2001.................................................................................................... i MAIN POINTS FOR 2001 ........................................................................................................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, 1960-2001.............................3 Figure 1 Fatality rate per 10,000 vehicles, 10,000 licences and 100,000 population for years 1950 to 2001 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 2000......................6 Table 4 Fatalities, year, month.................................................................................7 Table 5 Casualties, year, road user class, degree of casualty .........................8-9 TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN 2001 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 2001 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