National road toll plummets amid COVID-19 lockdown

Containment measures have had a dramatic affect on Australian statistics.

Travel restrictions have led to a dramatic drop in deaths on Australian roads. Picture: David Swift

The number of seniors and young people killed on Australian roads has fallen dramatically, with coronavirus containment measures leading to a sharp drop in the national road toll.

The latest figures from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, released on Thursday, showed that the number of people aged 65 or over who died in accidents during April fell 53 per cent on average levels.

The number of 17-25 year-olds who died fell almost 60 per cent, from an average of 22 per hundred thousand people to just nine this April, while not one person under 16 died on the roads during the month. On average, six children die per 100,000 people on the roads each April.

But the exemptions around outdoor exercise were reflected in the number of pedestrian and cyclist deaths during the month.

The number of pedal cyclists killed tripled for the month – albeit off a low base – while the number of pedestrian deaths fell only slightly to 12 per 100,000, down from the average of 13, despite most people working from home during the period.

The overall figures showed a death toll of 75 people per 100,000, down from the average of 100.

Western Australia recorded the biggest improvement in fatalities on a state-by-state basis, with the death rate falling almost 34 per cent.

The state’s regional roads can be notorious, but a ban on travel between the state’s regions has cut traffic volumes in those areas substantially. Those regional travel restrictions will be eased from Monday.