2004 Road Toll Review

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Fatalities
[Note: The number of fatalities for 2004 is provisional and is subject to revision due to deaths until the end of January 2005 that may occur as a result of road crashes in December 2004, or to findings of Coroner’s investigations.]

South Australia - 2004

There were 139 road fatalities reported to South Australian Police during 2004.

The 2004 total of 139 fatalities is 17 fewer than the 156 fatalities recorded for 2003, and is also 17 fatalities (or 11 percent) below the average number of fatalities for the previous five years.

South Australian fatalities over time

South Australia has recorded a total of 12,379 road crash fatalities since 1950. From 1950 to 1970 there was a steady increase, peaking at 382 fatalities in 1974. Fatalities significantly decreased between 1974 and 1997. However, since 1997 the number of deaths has platueaud at an average of 158 per year. The 2004 total of 139 fatalities is the lowest total recorded for a calendar year since 1953 when 136 fatalities were recorded.

Figure 1: South Australian fatalities, 1950-2004

The general decline in the number of fatalities in South Australia each year has been achieved despite a steadily rising population and an escalation in the number of motor vehicles on register.

South Australia compared with the rest of Australia

The total for all Australian states and territories for 2004 was 1600, a decrease of nearly 2%, as shown in the table below.

Table 1 : SA Road Fatalities by Location

	Road Fatalities		Percenatge chage
	2004	2003
New South Wales	522	539	-3.2%
Victoria	343	330	+3.9%
Queensland	311	310	+0.3%
Western Australia	178	180	-1.1%
South Australia	139	156	-10.9%
Northern Territory	35	53	-34.0%
Tasmania	58	41	+41.5%
Australian Capital Territory	10	11	-9.1%
Australian Total	1596	1621*	-1.5%

*Please note that the official 2003 fatality total for Australia is 1621. The number of fatalities recorded for SA in 2003 by the national body Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is officially 157 rather than 156 because of the different fatality definition used by the ATSB.

Figure 1: Fatalities per state, comparison between 2003 and 2004

Urban-rural fatalities
In Adelaide there were 66 fatalities, 4 (6%) more fatalities than in 2003. There were 4 more than the average annual numbers for the previous 3-year period, and 3 more than for the previous 5-year period. See table 1 below.

In rural South Australia there were 73 fatalities, 21 (22%) fewer than in 2003. The 2004 total is also well below both the 3 and 5 year average.

Table 2: SA Road Fatalities by User Group

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2004-2003 Difference	2001-2003 3 year Ave.	1999-2003 5 year Ave.
Adelaide	62	67	69	55	62	66	4	62	63
Rural	91	99	84	99	94	73	-21	92	93
Total	153	166	153	154	156	139	-17	154	156

Figure 2: SA Road Fatalities by Location

Fatalities by road user group

Drivers:

There were 80 drivers killed in 2004, 3 (4%) more than in 2003.

Drivers in the 40-49 age group experienced an increase of 4 more than the previous year, increasing from 8 to12 killed in this age group. Drivers aged 20-24 years also increased from 15 to 18 killed in this age group. Drivers in the 60+ age group decreased from 16 drivers killed in 2003 to 9 drivers killed in 2004.

Passengers:

There were 23 passengers killed, 21 (48%) fewer than the previous year. Younger passengers aged 0-19 years experienced the largest decrease from 20 in 2003 to 3 in 2004. Other decreases were also in the 40-49 year age group (from 4 in 2003 to 1 passenger fatality in 2004) and in the 60+ age group (from 10 in 2003 to 5 passenger fatalities in 2004).

Motorcyclist/Pillion passenger:

Motorcyclists recorded the largest increase in fatalities, 8 (67%) more than in 2003 and also 33% above the previous 3 and 5-year average. The biggest increase was from motorcyclists aged 25-29 (from 1 fatality in 2003 to 7 fatalities in 2004).

There was one pillion passenger fatality, equal to the 2003 total.

Bicyclists:

In 2004, there were 3 fatalities, 2 (40%) fewer than for the previous year.

Pedestrians:

Pedestrians recorded a further decline in fatalities in 2004 reaching 11, 6 (35%) fewer than in the previous year. This is the lowest number of pedestrian fatalities on record for South Australia in a calendar year. The total is 48% below both the previous 3 and 5-year averages. The main decrease in the last 3 years has been from pedestrians aged 60+, decreasing by more than 50%.

One gopher rider was also killed in 2004.

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2004-2003 Difference	2001-2003 3 year Ave.	1999-2003 5 year Ave
Driver	73	91	76	71	77	80	3	75	78
Passenger	38	37	31	39	44	23	-21	38	38
Motorcyclist	15	16	13	21	12	20	8	15	15
Pillion	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1
Bicyclist	3	2	6	3	5	3	-2	5	4
Pedestrian	24	20	26	19	17	11	-6	21	21
Gopher rider	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Total	153	166	153	154	156	139	-17	154	156

Figure 3: SA Road Fatalities by Road User Group


Fatalities by age
The largest decrease in fatalities between 2003 and 2004 was in the 16-19 year age group, with a 65% decline. The 2004 total was also well below the 3 and 5 year averages for this age group. The large decrease in this age group was mainly due to fewer passenger fatalities. The 60+ age group also experienced a large decline of 37%. The decrease for this age group was both for drivers and passengers.

The largest increase in fatalities for 2003 was in the 20-24 year age group, 29% more than for the previous year. The increase for this age group was mainly due to more motorcyclist fatalities.

The number of fatalities in the 50-59 year age group remains high compared to the 3 and 5 year averages. The majority of fatalities in this age group are drivers.

Table 3: SA Road Fatalities by age

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2004-2003 Difference	2001-2003 3 year Ave.	1999-2003 5 year Ave
0-15	14	11	10	16	11	7	-4	12	12
16-19	20	26	16	16	20	7	-13	17	20
20-24	24	16	13	18	21	27	6	17	18
25-29	12	23	16	18	11	16	5	15	16
30-39	20	21	32	27	26	27	1	28	25
40-49	18	21	14	24	20	18	-2	19	19
50-59	10	10	12	10	17	17	0	13	12
60+	35	38	40	25	30	19	-11	32	34
Other	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Total	153	166	153	154	156	139	-17	154	156

Figure 4: SA Road Fatalities by age


Fatality rate per 100,000 population

South Australia’s fatality rate

South Australia’s fatality rate for 2004 is 9.1 per 100,000 population. The national target set to be achieved by 2010 is 5.6 fatalities per 100,000 population.

South Australia compared with the rest of Australia

The national fatality rate per 100,000 population in 2004 was 7.9.

	Fatalities per 100,000 population					Road toll per 100,000 population: percentage change
	2004	Ranking	2003	Ranking
New South Wales	7.8	3	8.1	3	-3.7%
Victoria	6.9	2	6.7	2	+3.0%
Queensland	8.0	4	8.2	4	-2.4%
Western Australia	9.0	5	9.2	6	-2.2%
South Australia	9.1	6	10.2	7	-10.8%
Northern Territory	17.5	8	26.7	8	-34.5%
Tasmania	12.0	7	8.6	5	+39.5%
Australian Capital Territory	3.1	1	3.4	1	-8.8%
Australian Total	7.9	-	8.2	-	-3.7%

(Please note that the Qld fatality rate has decreased despite the increase of 1 fatality in 2004. This is because of the large population increase within this state in 2004 compared to 2003.)

Figure 3 shows the national comparison for 2004.

Figure 3: National comparison of fatality rates per 100,000 population, 2004

Figure 4 illustrates per capita the fatality trend for South Australia compared with Australia as a whole. The graph shows that the fatality rate for South Australia and Australia has in the long term been steadily decreasing since 1971.

Since 1990 South Australia has been continually worse than the national average. Historically between 1950 and 1989 South Australia was below the national average for the majority of time.

Figure 4: Annual fatality rates, Australia and South Australia, 1950 to 2004

Serious Injuries
The number of serious injuries reported to South Australian Police to the end of October 2004 was 1061.

Full 2004 serious injuries are expected to be around 1300.

A total of 97,104 serious injuries have been recorded since 1968 to the end of October 2004. After reaching a peak of 4,055 serious injuries in 1969, the number of serious injuries declined until the early 1990s. Since 1992 serious injuries remained static between 1500 and 1600 serious injuries per year. The total of 1468 serious injuries in 2003 was the first time the figure recorded below 1500 in a calendar year.

Figure 5: South Australian serious injuries 1968-2003

2004 Road Toll in Review Map