More than 1,160 people died on Australian roads in 2022. Why is our death toll worsening?
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Horrific accidents, split-second misjudgements, poor weather, driver inexperience and rash decisions to get behind the wheel or to keep going have all seen Australia's road toll reach its highest level in five years, leaving hundreds of families grieving for lost loved ones.
Over those short years, Queensland's road toll has risen almost 18 per cent, and has recorded 299 deaths this past year, the highest number in the country.
At the same time, the far more-populous state of New South Wales has seen its road toll drop almost 27 per cent from its peak in 2019, of 352 deaths, to 288 deaths in 2022.
And, while Victoria's road toll has bounced around during this five-year span, climbing just over 7 per cent overall, to reach 240 deaths in 2022, it has fared far better than Queensland this past year.
Yet, both states have larger populations than the Sunshine State and, unlike most other eastern Australian jurisdictions, Queensland has had a worrying, almost year-on-year growth in its road toll since 2019.
On percentage growth, Tasmania has beaten Queensland — albeit from a fairly low base — experiencing a 66 per cent rise from 17 deaths in 2018 to 51 deaths this past year.
When Peter Cowan turns up at a road crash, "I didn't think it would happen to me" is a notoriously common attitude among those lucky enough to have survived.
The much smaller Australian Capital Territory (which has released figures until October 17), by contrast, saw at least a 50 per cent increase over the five years, after an initial 33 per cent fall from 2018 to 2019.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the country, South Australia (which has released figures until December 29), Western Australia and the Northern Territory had mixed outcomes.
In South Australia, the road toll has risen and fallen, twice, to see a decent fall of around 14 per cent fall over the past five years, with at least 70 deaths officially recorded up until December 29.
Western Australia, similarly, had fluctuations across those years but ended the period with a rise of just over 9 per cent, seeing its 2018 toll of 159 deaths eventually rising to 174 this past year.
While initially dipping from 50 deaths a year in the Northern Territory during 2018, this jurisdiction has gradually built up to 44 deaths last year, still managing an almost 14-per-cent improvement over that time period.
So, Queensland has topped the nation for the number of deaths on its roads, but what does a different comparison show? What happens when we look at the fatality rate per 100,000 population — a fairer, population-adjusted comparison — across Australia's various jurisdictions?
That sees the Northern Territory shoot to the top of a terrible scale, recording 17.6 deaths per 100,000 population, Tasmanian comes next (with 9), then Western Australia (6.2) and Queensland (5.6). The four remaining states and territories all have fatality rates that begin with a 3.
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2022 pop.
(est as
at June 30)
2022 fatality rate
(per 100k)
Queensland
246
220
278
277
299
5,322,100
5.6
New South Wales
347
352
284
275
288
8,153,600
3.5
Australian Capital Territory
9
6
7
11
18*
456,700
3.94
Victoria
214
212
265
211
240
6,613,700
3.6
Tasmania
17
29
38
35
51
571,500
9.0
South Australia
80
114
93
99
70**
1,820,500
3.85
Western Australia
159
164
155
166
174
2,785,300
6.2
Northern Territory
50
35
31
35
44
250,600
17.6
TOTAL
1,122
1,133
1,151
1,109
1,165
25,978,900
4.5
* ACT's latest figure is only up until October 17, 2022.
** South Australia's latest figure is only up until 11:59pm, December 29, 2022.
Australia, at 4.5 deaths per 100,000 people overall, sits 22 places from the bottom of a worldwide table of road tolls, bested by most European and all Scandinavian countries.
So, what has been behind our nation's results? And why are some jurisdictions faring better than others?
Police statistics show the "Fatal Five" — speeding, drink or drug driving, distracted driving, driving without a seat belt, and fatigue — continue to contribute strongly to Australia's road tolls.
The jurisdictions with the highest per-capita tolls — the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland — all have long stretches of remote roads, often with few other cars visible — conditions that make high speed attractive and fatigue and distraction much more likely.
But, is there something unusual about this past year and, perhaps, the year before?
And why do Australia's eastern states and territory, in particular, seem to be struggling to keep their road tolls down?
Two elements not captured by the Fatal Five are the weather that has beset the eastern part of the nation, and its impact on conditions (that motorists may not be aware of or take into consideration) — as well as the fact a certain pandemic kept drivers off the roads for a good part of the past three years.
Australia's eastern states were ravaged by widespread flooding throughout 2022, seeing long, wet weeks and considerable damage to road surfaces and infrastructure.
People have lost their homes, their belongings and, often, their cars, so not only are they stressed but many also end up driving vehicles they are not familiar with.
In some cases, where there have been complete road closures, travellers find themselves traversing unfamiliar territory or making choices they know are risky.
Frustrated rescuers say motorists continue to ignore safety warnings about driving through floodwaters.
A 2015 study from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre found that of 178 flood-related deaths in Australia since 2000, most had resulted from motorists driving into floodwaters.
In the first four months of 2022, at least 12 of 17 flooding-related deaths in Queensland resulted from people being caught in floodwaters in their cars.
During widespread flooding in NSW in March 2021, the SES reported that around half of 822 flood rescues were drivers trapped in cars.
This should not be a new idea: Every time there is flooding in Australia, there are pleas from emergency services to, "if it's flooded, forget it".
The problem is, a 2021 study by Macquarie University found that while nearly everyone agreed that entering floodwater was dangerous, most people also believed they could assess some circumstances where it was safe.
"For example, 26 per cent believed that it was somewhat or completely safe to drive through knee-deep still flood waters," research fellow Andrew Gissing said.
"The majority of drivers who had entered flood waters had done so on multiple occasions and would do so again if faced with the same circumstances."
Safety campaigns are being constantly revised by governments and emergency services do take other approaches, such as reminding people to plan alternate routes.
So what other risks are there?
Could our driving skills and attention be a little rusty?
Many drivers may no longer be at their peak if they have been housebound for a good part of the pandemic.
Queensland Acting Transport Minister Leeanne Enoch spoke about the state's road toll on Sunday, saying: "Plain and simple it has been a terrible year on Queensland's roads."
Ms Enoch said last year's "terrible" road toll had been attributed to a surge in "risky" behaviour on the roads since the pandemic.
"In 2019, we had the lowest road toll since records began … the pandemic hit and we've seen some major changes in behaviour," she said.
Back in September, Queensland University of Technology Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety professor Teresa Senserrick said the after-effects of COVID-19 lockdowns were likely still influencing driver behaviour.
"It's hard to pinpoint … definitively why it is so bad this year, but we just can't rule out the impact of COVID at this point," she said.
Professor Senserrick said the fact that Queensland's police officers were focused on border closures for nearly two years meant drivers quickly became complacent.
"It was actually mentioned specifically in media that that reduced their ability to do road policing, so people knew [police] weren't doing the random breath tests, for example," she said.
Research conducted by the centre surveyed driver behaviour before and after lockdowns, discovering drivers fell into bad habits during COVID, and were still driving dangerously.
"There were people [surveyed] that had never previously drunk and driven, but they did during COVID," she said.
"Because they were doing the behaviour and not getting caught, it was reinforcing that you can do this, and not be caught."
Other COVID impacts such as people opting to drive rather than catch a bus, and Queensland's increasing population could also be influencing the road toll, she said.
WA's Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner urged every Western Australian to add to their new year's resolution list one small, achievable change in their driving habits — slowing down, resting more, or taking more time to plan a journey.
Perhaps a defensive driving course could be added to that list: Given the changing conditions and increasing challenges our roads are throwing up, how many drivers have done any training after passing their test and earning their P plates?
Even from day to day, have we been routinely checking the weather or conditions of potentially flooded roads before we set out?
Are the risks we take on the road worth the misery we may inflict on others?
These are questions that all drivers should be asking ourselves as we head out on the roads in 2023. Our loved ones are counting on us.
This story has been corrected as an earlier 2018 figure was incorrectly transcribed. The correct value for Western Australia in that year, according to the state's record is 159 and not 211.
Trina McLellan is a supervising producer with ABC News Digital
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