Run-off road crashes

Key insights

Between 2016 and 2020:

• Run Off Road (RoR) crashes accounted for 20% of all reported crashes and 22% of deaths
• the average number of road deaths per year in Australia was 1,187
• deaths from RoR crashes averaged 458 per year
• almost two-thirds happened in regional Australia
• most happened late at night and on weekends
• almost always (96%) involved a single vehicle.

Other commonly reported factors included curved alignment, insufficient natural lighting (between dawn and dusk) and rain (leading to slippery roads and limited visibility).

Other key findings included:

• More than 50% of fatal RoR crashes happened in areas with a posted speed limit of at least 100 km/h. 
   
• While only 2% of all crashes are fatal, 4% of RoR crashes are fatal.
   
• Almost 45% of reported RoR crashes have hospitalised injuries recorded compared with only 33% of all crash types.
   
• Over the 5 years studied the number of fatal RoR crashes remained steady while the number of other crashes decreased.

About the data

The National Road Safety Research and Reporting Database and open datasets from states and territories were analysed where available, focussing on road users, vehicles and crash-related risk factors. 

Read the full report in Run-off Road Crashes in Australia, 2016-2020(Opens in a new tab/window)