❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks clarification on road crash data, specifically regarding the definition of 'speed' as a causal factor, the availability of historical data, and discrepancies between police and Office of Road Safety statistics on serious crashes. The Minister provides detailed explanations of the data collection methodologies and definitions used by different agencies.
AnsweredQoN 2856Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(a) in part (e) (ii) of his answer does the term ‘Speed’ mean ‘speeding’ (i.e. driving above the allowable speed limit) or does it mean that the speed of a vehicle resulted in the crash irrespective of the prevailing speed limit;
(b) if the latter meaning applies, are there any figures showing how many of the 68 accidents caused by speed also involved speeding above the speed limit;
(c) are the figures provided in (e) (ii) for 2006 also available for previous years;
(d) if so, could the Minister provide corresponding data for the year 2000;
(e) what is meant by ‘serious injury’ in the Minister's answer and, in particular, how does it differ to the term ‘serious’ crash used by the Office of Road Safety in its publication
Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia
;
(f) is the information provided in (e) (ii) of the Minister's answer available in a way that corresponds with the term ‘Total Serious’ crashes used by the Office of Road Safety in its publication
Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia
(e.g. on page 6 of the report for 2005); and
(g) can the minister explain the discrepancy whereby there were 572 fatal and serious crashes in 2006 recorded by the police, whereas there have been over 2,000 fatal and serious crashes recorded in each of the past four years by the Office of Road Safety in its publication
Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia
?
(b) if the latter meaning applies, are there any figures showing how many of the 68 accidents caused by speed also involved speeding above the speed limit;
(c) are the figures provided in (e) (ii) for 2006 also available for previous years;
(d) if so, could the Minister provide corresponding data for the year 2000;
(e) what is meant by ‘serious injury’ in the Minister's answer and, in particular, how does it differ to the term ‘serious’ crash used by the Office of Road Safety in its publication
Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia
;
(f) is the information provided in (e) (ii) of the Minister's answer available in a way that corresponds with the term ‘Total Serious’ crashes used by the Office of Road Safety in its publication
Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia
(e.g. on page 6 of the report for 2005); and
(g) can the minister explain the discrepancy whereby there were 572 fatal and serious crashes in 2006 recorded by the police, whereas there have been over 2,000 fatal and serious crashes recorded in each of the past four years by the Office of Road Safety in its publication
Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia
?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
20 November 2007
Responded by
Minister for Police and Emergency Services
Response time
28 days
(a) Speed as a causal factor within the Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database, as maintained by Western Australia Police, is determined by the Attending Officer at their initial investigation of the crash scene. This determination may be later amended and updated by a range of officers including the Investigating Officer, Major Crash Section and/or the Coroner. Speed as a causal factor does not automatically relate to the posted speed limit. Speed can be interpreted in relation to the road conditions, weather conditions, driver skill, and visibility. In many instances, speed as a causal factor is determined in relation to the posted speed limit, however this is not automatic as speed under some conditions can be considered excessive whilst below the posted speed limit.
(b) The Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database does not record whether the estimated speed of the vehicle/s is above the posted speed limit.
(c) Yes.
(d) Year 2000
Cause
No:
Proportion %
Alcohol
47
8.25
Alcohol/Drugs
13
2.28
Alcohol/Speed
65
11.40
Animals
2
0.35
Careless
30
5.26
Contravene TCL
19
3.33
Drugs
8
1.40
Fail to give way
22
3.86
Fallen load
2
0.35
Fatigue
33
5.79
Give way contravened
3
0.53
Heart attack
2
0.35
Inattention
102
17.89
Inexperience
13
2.28
Load shift
2
0.35
Mechanical
7
1.23
Other medical
5
0.88
Overtaking
22
3.86
Person fell from Vehicle
7
1.23
Reckless
6
1.05
Road Condition
6
1.05
Speed
79
13.86
Stop sign
8
1.40
Travel too close
1
0.18
Turn infront
39
6.84
Tyre blow out
2
0.35
Unknown
10
1.75
Visibility
6
1.05
Weather Conditions
9
1.58
(e) The Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005" utilises the following definitions for determining whether a road crash victim should be included in the data:
§ Serious Crash: a road crash that resulted in a fatality or hospitalisation
§ Out of scope: a road crash that occured due to a medical condition, suicide attempts, police chases or in off road locations such as beaches, car parks, petrol stations, driveways, recreational areas or ramps at boat harbours.
The Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database, as maintained by Western Australia Police, utilises a differing set of definitions:
§ Fatal crash: a road crash in which a person was fatally injured.
§ Serious Injury crash
:
a road crash that resulted in a life threatening injury or injuries likely to lead to a significant permanent disability.
§ Out of scope: a road crash that occurs due to a medical condition, suicide attempts or in off road locations such as beaches, car parks, petrol stations, driveways, recreational areas or ramps at boat harbours.
Hence, the Western Australia Police, Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database is a subset of the data reported in the Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005".
(f) No. The Western Australia Police, Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database does not contain data that would allow comparability with the Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005".
(g) The apparent discrepancy is explained by the difference in definition of the two datasets, the Western Australia Police, Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database has a narrower definition of serious crash than the Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005".
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
(b) The Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database does not record whether the estimated speed of the vehicle/s is above the posted speed limit.
(c) Yes.
(d) Year 2000
Cause
No:
Proportion %
Alcohol
47
8.25
Alcohol/Drugs
13
2.28
Alcohol/Speed
65
11.40
Animals
2
0.35
Careless
30
5.26
Contravene TCL
19
3.33
Drugs
8
1.40
Fail to give way
22
3.86
Fallen load
2
0.35
Fatigue
33
5.79
Give way contravened
3
0.53
Heart attack
2
0.35
Inattention
102
17.89
Inexperience
13
2.28
Load shift
2
0.35
Mechanical
7
1.23
Other medical
5
0.88
Overtaking
22
3.86
Person fell from Vehicle
7
1.23
Reckless
6
1.05
Road Condition
6
1.05
Speed
79
13.86
Stop sign
8
1.40
Travel too close
1
0.18
Turn infront
39
6.84
Tyre blow out
2
0.35
Unknown
10
1.75
Visibility
6
1.05
Weather Conditions
9
1.58
(e) The Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005" utilises the following definitions for determining whether a road crash victim should be included in the data:
§ Serious Crash: a road crash that resulted in a fatality or hospitalisation
§ Out of scope: a road crash that occured due to a medical condition, suicide attempts, police chases or in off road locations such as beaches, car parks, petrol stations, driveways, recreational areas or ramps at boat harbours.
The Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database, as maintained by Western Australia Police, utilises a differing set of definitions:
§ Fatal crash: a road crash in which a person was fatally injured.
§ Serious Injury crash
:
a road crash that resulted in a life threatening injury or injuries likely to lead to a significant permanent disability.
§ Out of scope: a road crash that occurs due to a medical condition, suicide attempts or in off road locations such as beaches, car parks, petrol stations, driveways, recreational areas or ramps at boat harbours.
Hence, the Western Australia Police, Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database is a subset of the data reported in the Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005".
(f) No. The Western Australia Police, Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database does not contain data that would allow comparability with the Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005".
(g) The apparent discrepancy is explained by the difference in definition of the two datasets, the Western Australia Police, Fatal and Serious Injury Traffic Crash database has a narrower definition of serious crash than the Office of Road Safety publication "Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2005".
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.