Accidents in WA have higher fatality rates than any state in Australia. On average, one person dies on WA roads every two days, despite improvements such as the safety of modern cars or mandatory seatbelts laws. For this reason, the situation in WA should be closely examined and measures should be taken accordingly.
Over the past five years, more than 8,500 people have been seriously injured in WA. In addition, more than 800 people lost their lives in these accidents.
Fatalities Statistics on Main Road Accidents in WA
According to the Road Safety Commission, in 2020, 155 people died in car accidents in WA. In 2019, the total number of people who lost their lives was recorded as 164. If we continue to give statistics for 2020, almost 75% of those who lost their lives are men and 25% are women. The majority of those who lost their lives in car crashes are between the ages of 20-29.
When the causes of car accidents in WA were examined, it was understood that the accidents were mostly caused by three reasons: “speeding”, “fatigued driving”, “inattention”.
Serious Injuries by Main Roads in WA
In 2020 alone, 1,641 people were seriously injured in car crashes in WA. (The number of people seriously injured in 2019 was 1698.) And regardless of gender, the vast majority of those injured were in the 20-29 age range.
The reasons why so many people are seriously injured in car accidents are the same as those listed above: “speeding”, “fatigued driving”, “inattention”.
So, what precautions should be taken to prevent car accidents?
Particular attention should be paid to the following five causes of accidents, which are called the “fatal five”:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Fatigued Driving
- Driving under the influence
- Not wearing a seatbelt
Considering all the reasons together, the things to be careful can be summarised as follows:
- legal speed limits must be observed.
- The car should be used taking into account the weather conditions.
- The driver and all passengers in the car must wear seat belts.
- Ensure that the viewing distance is sufficient. (Headlights should be turned on when the weather starts to get dark, headlights should be turned on in rainy weather, etc.)
- The car should not be used when tired. (If it will be a long trip, take a break occasionally)
- should not be distracted (don’t deal with the phone while driving, shouldn’t eat or drink, etc.)
- Do not drive after drinking alcohol.
What should you do if you are involved in a car accident?
First of all, you should stay calm and help the injured people. If you are the injured person, you should remain calm and wait for help to arrive.
One of the things you should do after the treatment should be to report the accident to the police. Also, if you can, take care to take note of all the information about the accident.
You can request compensation to erase the traces of the traumatic event you experienced. For this reason, any information you collect about the accident (contact information of the parties involved in the accident, license plates and conditions of the cars, information of eyewitnesses, etc.) will facilitate your work in the compensation process.
If you have a car accident in WA and would like to know what to do next, you can contact car accident lawyers in Perth. After consulting with you, they will decide what needs to be done and work with you to compensate for your loss.
