Road toll (Australia and New Zealand)

Road toll in Australia, 1983 to 2008

Road toll in New Zealand, 1951 to 2008

Road toll is the term used in some countries, specifically New Zealand and Australia for the number of deaths caused annually by road accidents.

New Zealand

New Zealand reports an annual nationwide road toll, plus special period figures for a number of holiday periods:

• Christmas — New Year : between 4pm on 24 December (22 or 23 December if 24 December falls on a weekend) and 6am on 3 January (4 or 5 January if 1 and/or 2 January fall on a weekend or 2 January falls on a Friday).
• Easter — from 4pm on the day before Good Friday and 6am the following Tuesday.
• Queen's Birthday — from 4pm on the Friday before the first Monday in June to 6am the following Tuesday.
• Labour Weekend — from 4pm on the Friday before the last Monday in October to 6am the following Tuesday.

The road toll includes deaths which occur within 7 days of a road accident as a result of injuries received in the accident. Deaths of pedestrians and cyclists are included, but deaths from vehicular accidents not on legal roads (e.g. on farms) are excluded.

The New Zealand road toll has exhibited a downward trend since the late 1980s through to 2010, which was attributed to a number of factors:

• A reduction in drink driving, due to public education and strict policing.
• Improvements in vehicle safety.
• An increase in the wearing of seat belts due to public education
• Hazard mitigation works on dangerous stretches of road.
• Reduction of speed limits in some accident blackspots and areas frequented by vulnerable road users.

Australia

In Australia the road toll is reported at a state level. Similar to New Zealand, Australia also reports national figures for special holidays, though usually only for the Christmas and Easter holiday periods.

In 2010, 1367 people lost their lives in road traffic crashes in Australia.^[1] While strategies to reduce road toll, including legislation, improvements to vehicle’s which help to make them safer, and educational programs have been developed by the national government, under the 1992 Road Safety Strategy, it is up to the local governments to adopt and enforce these policies.^[2] The state of Victoria has implemented several initiatives such as speed camera, random alcohol breath tests, and an integrated state trauma system, which have successfully reduced the number of deaths caused by road traffic crashes.^[3]

Random breath testing (“RBT”), utilized throughout Australia, differs from the sobriety check-points commonly used in other countries. In Australia, random breath testing is accomplished by setting up a highly visible road block, wherein all drivers passing through are asked to take an alcohol breath test, regardless of whether there is any cause to believe the driver has been drinking.^[4] RBT was shown to reduce alcohol related road toll by 8–71% in fourteen different studied reviewed by Dr. Corinne Peek-Asa.^[5] Requiring bicyclists to wear helmets and motorists and passengers to wear seat belts has also proven to reduce road toll in Australia.^[6][7]

See also

• List of countries by traffic-related death rate
• List of motor vehicle deaths in Australia by year

References

1. "Accidents Injuries and Fatalities: Transport Related Deaths". 1301.0 – Year Book Australia (2012). Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
2. "Vehicle Collisions in Australia". NSW Compensation Lawyers. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
3. Atkin, C; Freedman, I; Rosenfeld, J; Fitzgerald, M; Kossmann, T (November 2005). The evolution of an integrated state trauma system in Victoria, Australia. Injury. 36. pp. 1277–87. doi:10.1016/j.injury.2005.05.011. PMID 16214472.
4. Homel, R (1990). "Random Breath Testing and Random Stopping Programs in Australia" (PDF). In Wilson, R.J.; Mann, R.E. Drinking and Driving: Advances in Research and Prevention (PDF). Guilford Press. ISBN 0898621704.
5. Peek-Asa, C (January 1999). "The Effect of Random Alcohol Screening in Reducing Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries". American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 16 (1): 57–67. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00116-0.
6. Cameron, M; Vulcan, A; Finch, C; Newstead, S (June 1994). "Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Use Following a Decade of Helmet Promotion in Victoria, Australia — An Evaluation". Accident Analysis & Prevention. 26 (3): 325–337. doi:10.1016/0001-4575(94)90006-X. PMID 8011045.
7. Bhattacharyya, M; Layton, A (1979). "Effectiveness of Seat Belt Legislation on the Queensland Road Toll — An Australian Case Study in Intervention Analysis". Journal of the American Statistical Association. 74 (367): 596–603. doi:10.1080/01621459.1979.10481655.

External links

• "Tourist Crash Statistics for New Zealand". Holiday Driving New Zealand.
• "Road crash statistics". Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
• "Road death statistics". New Zealand Transport Agency.
• "Road Casualties — Social Report". Ministry of Social Development.