CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL CRASHES
More than 40% of casualty crashes in rural Victoria occurred in low speed zones (60 km/h or less) and these crashes may be similar to those occurring in metropolitan areas. However, crash severity was higher in higher speed zones.
Over a third of crashes occurred at intersections but these crashes were less severe, on average. In contrast, crashes on curves made about one-fifth of crashes in rural Victoria but were more severe than crashes on straight sections of road.
Half of the crashes involved more than one vehicle but these crashes were less severe, on average. Single vehicle crashes (not involving a pedestrian) comprised 44% of crashes and pedestrian crashes comprised 6% of crashes.
More than a quarter of the crashes involved an impact with a roadside object, most commonly a tree or a pole. More than half of the crashes with trees and 45% of crashes with poles resulted in fatal or serious injury.
Crashes on divided and undivided (not coded as divided) 100 and 110 km/h sections of road were compared to provide a measure of the effect of road standard on crashes. About 90% of crashes occurred on undivided roads, and these crashes were more likely to result in fatal or serious injury.
Surprisingly, divided roads had relatively more multi vehicle crashes than undivided roads which may reflect greater traffic volumes on divided roads, rather than a greater risk of single vehicle crashes on these roads.
Somewhat more crashes occurred on weekend days than weekdays and weekend crashes were more severe. About a quarter of crashes occurred at night (6pm to 6am) but these were more severe than daytime crashes. The most severe crashes were those occurring on weekend nights.
Given the different mix of speed zones across rural areas, the characteristics of crashes in rural cities, rural towns and other areas and remote areas were compared. The comparisons were influenced by the likelihood that less severe crashes may have been less likely to be reported in rural towns and other areas and (particularly) remote areas.
Crashes in rural cities were more likely to involve:
• Low (60 km/h or less) speed zones
• Intersections
• Pedestrians
• Multiple vehicle crashes
Crashes in remote areas were more likely to involve:
• Impacts with roadside objects (particularly trees)
• Night-time (6pm-6am) crashes
Crashes in rural towns & other areas were more likely than crashes in remote areas or rural
cities to involve:
• Curves
• Crashes on weekends
CHARACTERISTICS OF ROAD USERS IN RURAL CRASHES
Drivers and passengers comprised the largest numbers of road users in crashes in rural Victoria in 1997-2001 but pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists were more severely injured, on average. The severity of injury was generally higher in rural & remote areas compared with rural cities.
Under 25 year olds comprised the largest group of road users involved in crashes and many of these were passengers. The largest group of drivers in crashes were those aged 25 to 39.
The proportion of crashes that were single vehicle crashes (not involving a pedestrian) was greatest for drivers aged under 25 and decreased with driver age. Conversely, involvement in multi vehicle crashes increased with age.
More males than females were involved in crashes in rural Victoria and males were more severely injured, on average, than females. There were more males than females for all road user groups except passengers.
Given the different mix of speed zones across rural areas, the characteristics of road users in crashes in rural cities, rural towns and other areas and remote areas were compared. The comparisons were influenced by the likelihood that less severe crashes may have been less likely to be reported in rural towns and other areas and (particularly) remote areas.
Road users in crashes in rural cities were more likely to be:
• Pedestrians
• Females
• Pedestrians or bicyclists
Road users in crashes in remote areas were more likely to be:
• Persons aged 60 and over
• Not wearing a seatbelt
Road users in crashes in rural cities were less likely than road users in other rural areas to be passengers or motorcyclists. Road users in crashes in remote areas were less likely than road users in other rural areas to be aged under 25.
Information about Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) was poorly recorded, with the majority of values for non-fatally injured drivers and riders being missing. Overall, 22% of fatally injured drivers had a BAC of 0.05 or greater, for fatally injured riders the figure was 10%, and 33% of fatally injured pedestrians had a BAC of 0.05 or higher. In each case there seemed to be little difference in alcohol involvement between rural cities and rural & remote areas.
In an alternative approach to examining the role of alcohol in crashes, crashes in high and low alcohol hours were compared. The percentage of crashes that occurred in high alcohol hours was higher for pedestrians (44%), than drivers (38%) and motorcycle riders (38%).
For drivers, the percentage of crashes that occurred in high alcohol hours was lowest in rural cities, intermediate in rural towns & other areas and highest in remote areas. For motorcycle riders and pedestrians, the data showed the same pattern but the differences were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that alcohol involvement in crashes is potentially more of a problem in remote areas.
Alternatively, some of this pattern may reflect the overlap of high alcohol hours with those hours in which fatiguerelated crashes (or collisions with animals) are more likely.
More than one-third of drivers lived in the same postcode as the crash occurred and over 75% of drivers lived in rural Victoria. Only 14% of drivers lived in the Victorian metropolitan area. Drivers in crashes in rural cities were more likely to be country drivers than were drivers in crashes in other rural areas.
Drivers in crashes in remote areas were more likely to have non-Victorian postcodes than drivers in crashes in other rural areas. This may reflect that the remote areas were relatively close to the New South Wales and South Australian borders.