Introduction

  • From 2009 to 2019 there were over 155,000 vehicle accidents in Victoria.
  • During this time, more than 127,000 people were hospitalised as a result of a vehicle accident, and 2,912 people lost their lives.

Crash Stats data

  • “Crash Stats” is a dataset maintained and made available by VicRoads.
  • The intention of providing this dataset is to educate and inform the public about road crashes.
  • This slideshow visualises some of the Crash Stats data, to highlight factors that appear to influence the likelihood of a vehicle accident occurring.
  • The hope is that viewers may re-consider their need to drive under certain conditions, or at certain times, to reduce their chances of being involved in a vehicle accident.

Time of the day

  • Accidents are more frequent around 9am and 5pm, likely due to increased activity at these times, as people travel to/from work.
  • Accidents also increase between 2pm and 6pm, which aligns with the “post lunch” dip, a tendency for human attention and performance to decline in the afternoon (Reyner, 2012), (Smith, 1986).

Day of the week

  • While Sunday typically has the least number of reported accidents, it also has the largest proportion of accidents that involve a death of any day of the week.
  • This suggests drivers should be cautious when driving on Sundays, as the risk of being involved in a fatal accident is higher, relative to other days of the week.

Atmospheric Conditions (Weather)

  • While the majority (126,636) of accidents occurred in clear weather, accidents occurring in foggy weather, or strong winds were the most likely to involve a death.
  • As such, if the forecast calls for fog or strong winds, drivers should seriously consider their need to travel.

Speed

  • Accidents involving a death were more likely to occur in speed zones at or above 80km/h, which is no surprise considering a high-speed accident is more likely to cause serious injury or death.
  • Nevertheless, drivers ought to pay extra attention to the road when traveling at or above 80km/h.

Summary & Conclusion

  • With nearly 3,000 deaths in Victoria being the result of a vehicle accident over the last 10 years, vehicle accidents clearly pose a very real threat to anyone who uses a vehicle for transport.
  • Fortunately, there do appear to be some simple questions we can ask ourselves to determine whether we are putting ourselves at an increased risk of being involved in a fatal vehicle accident.
    • Am I driving during a “high traffic” time of day? Or during the ‘post-lunch’ dip?
    • Is today a weekend?
    • Does the weather forecast call for fog or strong winds?
    • Will I be driving through any high-speed areas?
  • If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, it would be wise to consider the need to travel, and to pay extra attention to the road and surroundings if postponing travel is not an option.

Your turn!

  • Below is an interactive map showing vehicle accidents and deaths by local government area (LGA).
  • The map allows you to view and compare your relative risk of being involved in a vehicle accident, based on the VicRoads Crash Stats dataset.

References