Australian road toll hits seven-decade low

Airbags are saving lives on our roads, but may be leaving more people with serious injuries than ever before.

Fewer people are dying on Australian roads but the rate of serious injuries is increasing – because, experts warn, occupants of modern cars are surviving crashes that may have killed them only a few years ago.

The national road toll fell to its lowest level in 69 years – since the end of World War II in 1945 – but, disturbingly, five of the eight states and territories posted increases in 2014.

Official figures from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics show 1153 people died on Australian roads in 2014; the last time there was a figure lower than this was in 1945, when 1011 people died.

Better roads, traffic enforcement and safer cars have contributed to reducing the number of road deaths

NSW (309 deaths) posted its lowest road toll in 90 years while Queensland (223) and Tasmania (35) also posted significant decreases.

However, Victoria (249) posted its first increase since 2005, while West Australia (1818), South Australia (107), the Northern Territory (39) and the ACT (10) all posted increases.

The Australian Automobile Association says better roads, traffic enforcement and safer cars have contributed to reducing the number of road deaths.

But the peak motoring body is concerned about the high number of serious injuries, and the fact that not all states publish hospitalisation data.

Airbags are keeping some people alive in crashes they might have died in only a few years ago

"We have serious concerns that the lower fatality rate may be masking an increase in the number of serious injury crashes," said the acting chief executive of the AAA, James Goodwin.

"Airbags are keeping some people alive in crashes they might have died in only a few years ago, and leaving them with serious injuries."

The AAA estimates the number of people left with serious injuries in a crash is more than 30 times the number of those killed on the roads.

It latest report calculates about 32,500 people are seriously injured on the roads each year.

All states and territories need to start accurately counting serious injuries

Victoria is the only state to regularly publish hospitalisation data from road crashes; the latest figures show almost 6000 people were hospitalised in the 12 months to April 2014 in that state alone, an increase of 13 per cent over the same period the previous year.

"Authorities in all states and territories need to start accurately counting serious injuries from road crahes," said Mr Goodwin. "There are inconsistencies from state to state in how the data is gathered and what constitutes a serious injury. If we really want to measure road safety accurately, there needs to be a national standard for monitoring the number of serious injuries."

Australian road toll 2014 (versus 2013)

National: 1153, down 2.9 per cent
NSW: 309, down 7.2 per cent
Victoria: 249, up 2.5 per cent
Queensland: 223, down 17.7 per cent
West Australia: 181, up 11.7 per cent
South Australia: 107, up 9.2 per cent
Northern Territory: 39, up 5.4 per cent
Australian Capital Territory: 10, up 42.9 per cent