Interesting Statistics

Car crashes – Serious injuries and deaths by road user, gender and age

Transport for NSW provides regular statistics on how many people are affected by car crashes throughout NSW.

Table 1 – Serious injuries by road user, year ending June 2019

	Number	Change from June 2018
Driver	3,593	-96 (-3%)
Passenger	1,289	-82 (-6%)
Motorcyclist	2,393	-155 (-6%)
Pedestrian	921	-128 (-12%)
Cyclist	1,757	-225 (-11%)
Other	494	-125 (-20%)
Total	10,447	-811 (-7%)

Table 1 shows cyclists, then motorcyclists, saw the biggest drop in the number of serious injuries. Pedestrians and cyclists saw the biggest percentage drops in serious injuries.

Table 2 – Serious injuries by gender, year ending June 2019

	Number	June 2019 (2018)
Male	6,866	65.7% (65.6%)
Female	3,581	34.3% (34.4%)
Total	10,447

Table 2 shows almost no change in the ratio of male to female. Men still make up two thirds of serious injuries.

Table 3 – Serious injuries by age group, year ending June 2019

Age group	Number	Change from June 2018
Under 16	809	-77 (-9%)
17-25	2,093	-132 (-6%)
26-49	3,752	-281 (-7%)
50-69	2,411	-186 (-7%)
Over 70	1,371	-141 (-9%)
Total	10.447	(-811) (-7%)

Table 3 shows 26-49 year olds then 50-69 year olds saw the biggest drop in the number of serious injuries. Under 16s and over 70s saw the biggest percentage drop in serious injuries.

Note: The following statistics about road deaths are based on comparison with 3-year averages, rather than previous year end.

Table 4 – Deaths by road user, year ending December 2019

	Number	Change from 3yr average
Driver	166	-5.5%
Passenger	59	-8.3%
Pedestrian	46	-28.9%
Motorcyclist	67	+11.7%
Cyclist	14	+90.9% (up from 7.3 deaths)
Total	352	-5.4%

Table 4 shows deaths have reduced for drivers, passengers and especially pedestrians. They have increased for motorcyclists and doubled for cyclists.

Table 5 – Deaths by gender, year ending December 2019

	Number	December 2019 (3-year average)
Male	275	78.1% (73.5%)
Female	77	21.9% (26.5%)
Total	352

Table 5 shows nearly 4 out of 5 deaths are men – 6% more than the 3-year average.

Table 6 – Deaths by age group, year ending December 2019

Age group	Number	Change from 3yr average
Under 16	10	-37.5%
17-25	61	-22.5%
26-49	116	-4.1%
50-69	90	+5.5%
Over 70	75	+5.6%
Total	352	-5.4%

Table 6 shows deaths among under-16s and 17-25s have particularly reduced. Meanwhile deaths of older people, 50-69 and over 70, have increased.

General comments

• Deaths per 100,000 population are trending down – 4.35 at December 2019 (4.6 in 2018, 4.94 in 2017)
• Serious injuries are trending down – down 7% at June 2019, down 9% at June 2018
• People over 50 saw the biggest increase in deaths, which may explain the biggest decrease in serious injuries for that group
• Men tragically made up 2 in 3 of all serious injuries and 4 in 5 of all deaths
• There was good news overall for pedestrians and under 25s.

Sources

All information is taken from Transport for NSW:

• Monthly Bulletin of Preliminary Traffic Crash Data, December 2019 (preliminary)
• Quarterly bulletin of serious injury crash data June quarter 2019 (preliminary).