The other side of the road toll statistics

In addition to celebrating the end of each year and the start of a new one, we also at this time of year sadly reflect on the number of lives lost on our roads. The road toll climbs higher almost every year. Are we getting worse as drivers? Are we speeding more, or are we more distracted? Authorities have used these as reason to impose increasingly heavy fines for even minor transgressions.

There’s another side to the statistics that’s worth thinking about. Now, before anyone channels their inner Greta Thunberg with a “how dare you!” for raising this, I’ve lost two good friends due to road fatalities – one of whom was my best mate. I was first to find him, and with another mate we did our best with CPR and mouth to mouth. Unsuccessfully as it turned out, to my eternal regret. I hope others never have to experience that. So by looking at the data I am acutely aware that the numbers represent the lives of people and the hurt of those left behind.

But the facts matter and so does context.

One reason the road toll is increasing is simply that there are so many more of us on the roads. We added another million people to the national population in just 2.5 years. The only way for the road toll to fall in those circumstances would be to envisage that not one single additional person will fall victim to a road fatality. Mathematically hugely improbable.

For context, a look at road fatalities per hundred thousand people tells a different story. Here, our rate of road fatalities has been falling consistently since 1970. Those fondly recalled family photos of kids piled into the family wagon with no seatbelts were also a deadly time on our roads. Drink driving in particular, but other aspects of road safety – including road design – were not conducive to surviving the drive.

Our current rate of road fatalities is around 4.8 per hundred thousand – a rate which has more or less not changed in a decade.

Source: The Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities

How does this compare internationally? We are less than half the rate of road deaths in the USA, we are lower than New Zealand, roughly the same as Canada but higher than countries like Germany or Japan. Interestingly, Germany offers very high-speed road travel on much of its federal motorway network the autobahn. Parts of it have no speed limit at all. Clearly the quality of their highways is a major factor – speed alone is not.

Source: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts. (2025, October 30). International comparisons. National Road Safety Data Hub.

How do we compare across Australia? The Northern Territory is statistically the worst of the states or territories, while the ACT is the best. Is the quality of roads in the ACT a factor? Queensland is higher than both NSW and Victoria but is also a more decentralised state.