Trends in traffic casualties in South Australia, 1981-2003

There has been a reduction in traffic fatalities in South Australia between 1981 and 2003, but this has not been accompanied by a fall in the total number of traffic casualties, and even the number of fatalities has declined very little since about 1992. This report throws light on these and related observations. The main data source is TARS, the database of crashes reported to the police; in addition, some use is made of statistics of death registration and of casualties hospitalised. Among the findings are the following. (a) Although the number of fatalities has not fallen much since about 1992, this has been a result of a continued decline in fatality rate and an increase in vehicle kilometres. (b) The increase in total casualties over the period 1992-2000 was largely confined to the minor categories of injury. (c) An increase in minor rear-end crashes was part of this, but not all of it. (d) In the metropolitan area of Adelaide, hospital-admitted casualties have been falling faster than fatalities over the period 1981-2003. (The evidence is less clear for country areas.) (e) There are numerous other features of the data that are not fully understood. In some cases, a more elaborate tabulation of subcategory numbers might resolve the issue, but in other cases, it is difficult to imagine doing so with mass accident data.T.P. Hutchinson, R.W.G Anderson, A.J. McLean and C.N. Kloede