Road trauma
Facts
- Globally, more than 1.25 million people die in road traffic crashes every year and a further 50 million people are injured or disabled.
- It is estimated that this will increase to 2.4 million deaths each year by 2030, which will make road traffic crashes the fifth leading cause of death globally.
- Road traffic crashes are the number 1 cause of death among those aged 15-29 years and 3 out of 4 road deaths are men.
- Although low- and middle-income countries have only half of the world’s vehicles, they suffer 90% of the world’s road traffic deaths.
- Half of all road traffic deaths are among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycles.
- In Australia, nearly 1,300 people die in road traffic crashes every year and over 36,000 people are hospitalised.
Road safety strategies in Australia
The National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 was released in 2011 and is framed by the guiding vision that no person should be killed or seriously injured on Australian roads. To progress towards this long-term vision, the strategy presents a 10-year plan to reduce the annual number of deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads by 30%.
The National Road Safety Action Plan 2018–2020 (Action Plan) was released in 2018 to support the implementation of the National Road Safety Strategy and highlights a number of priority actions for 2018-2020. Furthermore, an independent inquiry into the effectiveness of the National Road Safety Strategy is currently underway. As part of this, a post-2020 strategy will be developed that will include consideration of emerging technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, and improvements in post-crash care to reduce deaths and ongoing disability and improve recovery from injury.
Resources 
Key reports
- WHO Global status report on road safety
- WHO Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020
- Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) Road Trauma Australia – Annual Summaries
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Hospitalised injury due to land transport crashes
- National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020
- National Road Safety Strategy 2018-2020
- Australian Automobile Association – Cost of road trauma in Australia
Fact Sheets
- WHO Fact sheet
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE)
- AIPN Position Papers:
Websites
- The Safe System Approach to Road Safety
- WHO
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE)
- Australasian College of Road Safety
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Campaigns
- NSW Centre for Road Safety
- VIC Transport Accident Commission
- ACT Police
- Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
- Western Australia Road Safety Commission
- South Australia Motor Accident Commission