Casualty crash rates for Australian jurisdictions

There is a scarcity of information in Australia about casualty crash rates for various types of road environments. Over a six year period, ARRB carried out an extensive Austroads funded project to develop a geospatial crash database combining crash, road asset and traffic flow information from different Australian jurisdictions.

A wealth of crash related information was derived from the database, including casualty crash rates, crash cost rates (indicative of the cost of road trauma) and relative risks associated with travelling on different standards of roads. Key relationships between casualty crashes rates and known road safety factors were explored to demonstrate application of the database. These factors included: traffic volumes, intersection approach volumes, road hierarchy, terrain and time of day among others.

A number of database outputs have potential for practical application by assisting jurisdictions in road safety program development and monitoring. Other potential uses were identified and remain to be explored. ARBB is keen to ensure that researchers and road authorities are aware of this resource and its potential.