An investigation of urban area run off road crashes in Western Australia 2005-2009

Single vehicle run off road crashes account for around one in ten crashes but are a significant contributor to serious injury. The aims of this investigation were to describe the epidemiology of single vehicle run off road crashes in the urban area and consider a range of safe road and roadside countermeasures and others to reduce the incidence of crashes and injury severity. Two crash types occurring in the Perth metropolitan area 2005-2009 were selected for analysis: vehicles running off the road and crashing into an object or involved in a non-collision (rolling over) (n=12,843), and, vehicles running off the road and colliding with a pedestrian off-carriageway (n=18). Descriptive analyses were undertaken of both datasets and multivariate analysis of the severity of the crash for the larger dataset. For the larger set of crashes the findings were generally consistent with those reported elsewhere and highlight the role of speed, road alignment, and type of collision (hit object or other) as contributors to injury severity. The vast majority of crash sites in this study lacked roadside barriers and audio-tactile edge-lining, which are known to be important and effective countermeasures for run off road crashes. A number of recommendations related to safe road use, safe vehicles, safe speeds, and safe roads and roadsides were provided.