An in-depth study of rural road crashes in South Australia

Abstract

This is the final report of an in-depth study of rural road crashes which was carried out in South Australia from June 1986 to July 1987. In Part 1 the methods of work and the equipment used are explained in sane detail together with the principal findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Part 2 contains a complete set of case summaries, including site diagrams and photographs. An intensive on-scene study of crashes on rural roads outside towns was carried out from June 1986 to July 1987 in an area of roughly 100 kilometers radius around Adelaide, South Australia. A two man team comprising a social scientist and a physical scientist gathered information by detailed examination of the scene of each crash and the vehicles involved, and by interviewing the participants in, and witnesses of, the crash. A plane-table survey was conducted at each crash site and plans were produced using the survey data, aerial photographs and a computer-aided drawing package. The team was notified of crashes through the regional centres of the St. John Ambulance Service. A total of 80 crashes were investigated. This was a 14% sample of the 577 calls to crashes. Fifty-six crashes involved loss of directional control. The loss of directional control was due to various ccmbinations of driver, vehicle and environmental factors. The drivers and riders involved in the crashes ere predominantly young, (less than 30 years), male, unmarried, in a blue collar occupation, with a limited secondary school education. Almost half of male drivers were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. Abut 15% of drivers and riders had a BAC over the legal limit of 0.08 g/100 ml. Compared with urban crashes these crashes resulted in more frequent and more severe injury. Reccomendations were made regarding measures to increase seat belt wearing rates, and to increase random breath testing in rural areas.