Pedestrians are more likely to be killed by heavier cars – and even more so if the vehicle is taller, Australian-first research has found.
Articles on Road deaths
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The new road safety strategy is a welcome shift to prevention, rather than punishment, for road fatalities.
Drink driving in Australia is declining thanks to the right mix of laws, visibility and social messaging. Four strategies could make a difference with drug driving.
More lives are being lost on Australian roads despite safer cars and road safety campaigns. We breakdown the groups that are most vulnerable to fatalities.
Documents show the government is going against expert advice and strong economic evidence by insisting higher speed limits will improve productivity.
More than 1,300 people died on Australia’s roads in the last year. New modelling identifies the people and regions most at risk of future tragedies unless there’s a more targeted approach to road safety.
Driver suicides account for about 9% of all fatal road crashes but many go unreported. Why are they so difficult to identify and what patterns exist?
Higher speed limits are coming. But the case against them isn’t based on road safety alone – claims of increased economic efficiency are not supported by the evidence, either.
The death toll on Australian roads in July was almost a third higher than the five-year average. The 12-month toll was the highest since 2012. A lower speed limit will save lives.
The number of deaths on Australian roads has been increasing steadily year after year. It’s unacceptable not to act on the evidence of what works to boost road safety.
Most drivers admit to speeding and it’s causing an increasing number of deaths on our roads. Using intelligent speed assist technology can reverse this deadly trend.
We accept the daily toll of road deaths and injuries as the price we pay to be able to drive everywhere, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Road deaths have remained stubbornly high in Australia over the past decade. Do we have the right strategies in place to address the problem?
Despite claims that lowering speed limits will harm the economy, evidence suggests journey times are hardly affected. And beyond reducing the road toll, there are health and climate benefits, too.
Changes to the Highway Code have created a hierarchy of road users, prioritising the most vulnerable.
Countries around the world are managing to reduce their road deaths to zero. There are ways Australia can get there too.
While the road toll has come down over the decades, it’s largely a result of fewer car occupants dying. Pedestrian deaths have barely changed for a decade, but they remain a road safety blind spot.
The push for 30km/h speed limits is not about revenue-raising or anti-cars. Even a seemingly small decrease from 40km/h to 30km/h makes a huge difference to the safety and liveability of local streets.
Delivery riders are paying the ultimate price for the fact that our cities, their infrastructure and the rules governing them make cycling much more dangerous than it should be.
Our research calculates how dangerous different vehicles are to other people.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience, The University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia
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Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne
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Research Fellow, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Senior Research Fellow in Human Factors & Sociotechnical Systems, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UMass Lowell
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Previously Honorary Research Associate, University of Cape Town
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Senior Research Fellow, George Institute for Global Health
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Senior Research Fellow , Neuroscience Research Australia
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Professor, Western Sydney University
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Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Principal Research Associate, University of Cambridge
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Professor of Human Geography, University of Canterbury
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Research Fellow, University of Sydney