The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released a report into traffic related injuries, finding the rate of people suffering major injuries on the country’s road is rising, while the rate of those injuried in train related accidents is declining.

 

The Trends in serious injury due to transport accidents, Australia 2001-01 to 2008-09 report shows that over the nine year period, the rate of people seriously injured due to road crashes had increased from 138.3 to 156.7 per 100,000 people, recording a 1.7 per cent increase per year. Over a quarter of those suffered life threatening injures.

 

“Rates rose more steeply for cases involving motorcyclists (6.8%) and pedal cyclists (6.9%). The rise was still sharper for cases involving males aged 45–64 years as motorcyclists (14.7%) and pedal cyclists (14.0%),” AIHW spokesman Professor James Harrison said.

 

People living in remote areas recorded the highest average annual increase in the rate of life-threatening injury due to road traffic crashes (5.8%), but there were small increases for all areas.

 

Another AIHW report released today, Serious injury due to transport accidents involving a railway train, Australia 2004–05 to 2008–09, shows that rates of serious injury due to transport accidents involving trains dropped by an average of 5.1% a year over the 9-year period from 2000–01 to 2008–09.

 

‘About one rail user was seriously injured per 100 million passenger kilometres travelled in 2008–09,’ Professor Harrison said.

 

All reports can be found here:

 

Trends in serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia 2000-01 to 2008-09 

Serious injury due to transport accidents involving a railway train, Australia 2004–05 to 2008–09 

 Serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia 2007–08

Serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia, 2008–09