Road deaths fall in Australia
05 June 2015 by News DeskRoad deaths in Australia fell from 1,187 to 1,156 last year, according to latest official figures.
But while fatalities fell in Australia, the number of road deaths in New Zealand increased 16%. The rise in New Zealand followed a 17% fall in fatalities the previous year.
New Zealand’s relatively small size makes even small percentage movements appear more dramatic. The overall trend is positive, towards fewer fatalities. Since the year 2000 there has been a 45% decline in road fatalities compared to the rise in NZ population.
New Zealand Transport Minister Simon Bridges said: “Those numbers aren’t just numbers, they represent lives”.
Sweden has the lowest rate of fatalities at 2.7 per 100,000, New Zealand has 5.7 and Argentina is the worst of those in the study – 12.9 road deaths per 100,000 of population in 2013. The United States has the highest number of road deaths with more than 32,000 each year and a fatality rate of 10.9 per 100,000 of population, according to the International Road Traffic and Accident Database.