Car crashes are the biggest cause of accidental death in children under 14

The number of people killed on the nation’s roads has gone up this year and this is one of the devastating reasons why.

Car crashes are the number one cause of accidental death for children under 14 and one of the biggest killers of those under 25 behind suicide, data shows.

More than 1300 people died on Australian roads in the 12 months to November 2024, which was 6.1 per cent higher than the previous period, according to figures collated by the Australian Road Safety Foundation and the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.

Twenty of those victims were under the age of seven, which represents an alarming 54 per cent spike compared with the same 12-month period to November 2023.

A further 46 deaths were people aged between eight and 16, and 242 were aged between 17 and 25.

Car crashes are the number one cause of accidental death for children under 14 and one of the biggest killers of those under 25 after suicide.

Peter Khoury, a spokesman for the NRMA, said it’s imperative that governments invest infrastructure to ensure the roads are as safe as possible.

“Children are the most vulnerable road users in our society and we must protect them,” he said.

“These are heartbreaking from a national perspective, the road toll is up this year and it’s devastating to see that children are over-represented in these numbers.

“We need to continue to invest in infrastructure to ensure people are driving on safe roads, we don’t want Australians paying for a mistake with their lives, and for children to pay for that.”

Mr Khoury said support programs educating parents on the right booster seats to buy for their child – and how to install them – were also needed.

“This is particularly important in low socio-economic groups and families who are over-represented in crashes,” he said.

Despite the common belief that provisional drivers are the most reckless, data also shows the risk of a fatal car crash increases once motorists reach their 40s.

There were 276 road deaths between the ages of 26 and 39, 411 people were between 40 and 64, 140 people were aged between 65 and 74, and a further 166 were older than 75.

Figures also show that men are significantly more likely to die in a car crash than women.

Within the last year, 997 of road crash victims have been male, which is a seven per cent increase compared with the previous period. The number of women who died road crashes within the last year was 317, which represents a one per cent rise.