1.2 Victorian statistics

Government instrumentalities and key motoring bodies provided the following data on defect-related crashes, which the Committee examined and analysed.

1.2.1 VicRoads

In his opening remarks to the Committee at a public hearing, the Chief Executive of VicRoads, Mr C. Jordan, said:

We conclude that defects do contribute to or make worse a small but significant number of crashes. From a detailed analysis of Victoria Police crash data for 1998 it was estimated that the percentage of light vehicles involved in crashes investigated by the Victoria Police accident investigation section ranged from 1.2 per cent to 3.9 per cent; and for heavy vehicles, from 6.1 per cent to 9.9 per cent.⁷

VicRoads analysed data from the Victoria Police Accident Investigation Section on 5,562 crashes involving fatal and serious injury occurring between late 1992 and May 1999. The data shows that:

1) 1.1% of vehicles had defects that caused or contributed to the crash; and

2) the number increased to 2.7% if vehicles with defects that may have contributed to the crash were included.⁸

A second study was undertaken by Axup and Associates. From an investigation of 200 crashes the study found that vehicle condition was:

... a direct sole cause in six percent of heavy vehicle incidents and three percent of the light vehicle incidents analysed. As a contributing cause (not a direct cause) defective vehicle condition played a part in three percent of the heavy vehicle incidents and not at all in light vehicle incidents.⁹

1.2.2 Victoria Police

At a public hearing with the Committee, the Victoria Police provided an estimate of crash involvement:

It is suggested that less than 4 per cent of vehicles in the category referred to in term of reference no. 1 cause, contribute or possibly contribute to fatal or serious injury crashes¹⁰(Superintendent R. Wylie, Traffic and Operations Support Department).

The Major Collision Investigation Group (MCIG), formerly the Accident Investigation Section (AIS), and qualified vehicle examiners from the Mechanical Investigation Unit (MIU), formerly the Mechanical Investigation Section (MIS), now investigate all fatal and serious injury crashes meeting the following criteria:

1) Hit-run collisions involving fatal or life-threatening injuries; and

2) Collisions involving fatal or life threatening injuries where there is criminal negligence by a surviving driver.¹¹

In a second submission to update the material provided in the 53^rd Parliament, the Victoria Police advised that:

With the investigative and examination processes in place, only one percent of those collisions have been identified in the last 12 months as being directly attributed to mechanical failure.¹²

The Victoria Police submission stated:

... the relationship between serious collisions causation and vehicle roadworthiness is not significant.¹³

The Committee developed a table from the Victoria Police data showing the number of vehicles with defects that were involved in crashes in 1999.¹⁴

Table 1.1: Percentage of Unroadworthy Vehicles Involved in Crashes

Vehicle Inspections 1999

No = 588

% of Total Vehicle Inspections

Roadworthy vehicles
Unroadworthy vehicles
Cause
Contribute
Possibly contribute

299
262
7
5
15

50.85
44.55
1.19
.85
2.55

This information covers only one year and in this period all cases were investigated.

Table 1.2 provides information from vehicle inspections carried out by Victoria Police over a six-year period from 1994 to 1999. The Committee is aware that inspection of all fatal crashes has only occurred in recent times and so earlier data may have under-reported the number of cases that could have met the criteria for investigation.

Table 1.2: Victoria Police MIS Inspections of Vehicles Involved in Fatal and Serious Injury Crashes 1994 - 1999

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Total*

%*

Total Inspections

832

851

743

775

722

588

4511

Unroadworthy Vehicles
Cause
Contribute
Possibly Contribute

312
6
2
14

287
4
2
15

240
3
8
9

302
8
2
28

274
8
4
21

262
7
5
15

1677
36
23
102

37.17
.79
.50
2.26

Cause: A mechanical fault was the direct cause of the collision.

Contribute: A mechanical fault was a contributing factor to the collision.

Possibly Contribute: A mechanical fault was found that may have contributed to the

collision.

Source: Victoria Police Submission, 18 May 2000, p. 2. *[shaded data added by Committee]

The above data on fatal and serious injury crashes for the period 1994-1999 shows that:

1) .79% of unroadworthy vehicles caused the crash;

2) .50% of unroadworthy vehicles contributed to the crash; and

3) 2.26% of unroadworthy vehicles possibly contributed to the crash.

These figures indicated a total defect involvement rate of 3.55% in crashes. The Committee accepted the argument that the rate may be higher if the true number of serious injury crashes could be factored into the equation.

The Victoria Police in its submission in May 2000 stated:

The examination and investigation of fatal and serious injury collisions by the Accident and Mechanical Investigation Section is considered to be a qualitative sample as opposed to a general, subjective assessment provided during other collision investigations conducted by police.¹⁵

The Committee is aware that not every serious injury crash is investigated and so the true figure is not known. The definition of a serious injury crash is difficult to interpret. The number of crashes where injuries are sustained would require significant resources to investigate in full.

The Committee is satisfied that the Police data collection process is effective and shows the number of tests performed. No submissions to the inquiry claimed the system is flawed or inadequate.

1.2.3 Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC)

The VACC provided a report on vehicle roadworthiness prepared by Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) as part of their submission to the inquiry.

MUARC used data from the Coroner's database to study 224 inspections carried out between 1996 and 1998 by the AIS. During that three-year period 1,185 cases were reported.

The MUARC report stated that:

... in 1.3% (3/224) of fatal crashes, a defect was identified as the causal factor in the crash and in 6.7% (15/224) of fatal crashes, a defect was identified as having contributed to the crash.

Overall, based on this Coronial data it would appear that defects play a role in around 8% of crashes.¹⁶

The Research and Information Group of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine analysed the findings of the Victorian State Coroner for the period 1989 to 1998:

For the ten-year period a total of 4400 crash cases (fatalities) were searched, of which 234 cases noted 'defects' or 'roadworthiness'. Of the 234 cases over the 10 year period, a subset of 64 cases were identified for the 3 year period from 1996 to 1998. 10 of these files were not held at the Coroner's office. Thus, 54 cases were investigated in detail.¹⁷

This data shows that the number of cases with 'defects' or 'roadworthiness' issues is relatively small at 5.32% of all cases over the 10-year period.

Of the subset of 54 cases the contribution of vehicle defects was identified:

Of the 54 crashes, 3 were found to have defects that caused the crash, 15 had defects that contributed to the crash, and 36 had defects that did not contribute to the crash at all.

The defects that caused the crashes were as follows:
- the near side rear axle broke and the wheel assembly detached
- the steering wheel was not secured properly
- the drag link failed and caused a total and sudden loss of steering control.

Of the crashes in which the defect contributed to causing the crash, 11 were due to worn tyres, 3 were due to faulty brakes and one crash was due to both worn tyres and faulty brakes.¹⁸

The MUARC data also provided the Committee with information of other contributing factors. These were:

1) Loss of driver control;

2) Drivers with high blood alcohol concentration levels;

3) Speed;

4) Fatigue;

5) Drugs; and

6) Driver age.

Vehicle age, age and sex of the driver, and other factors such as speed, alcohol and climatic factors were provided in the Coroner's files.¹⁹

The VACC submission concluded that in relation to defects as a contributing factor:

The most comprehensive Australian studies by McLean (1979) and Haworth et al (1997), and analysis of the Victorian Coroner's database, suggest that a reasonable estimate for Victoria is a range of 3 to 8 per cent.²⁰

1.2.4 Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV)

Mr M. Case, Chief Engineer - Vehicles, RACV, made the Club's position clear to the Committee:

Despite a shortage of recent research, there is no conclusive evidence that vehicle condition plays a major role in the cause of road crashes. Analysis of reputable research studies from both Australia and overseas shows that vehicle condition is a significant cause or factor in between 0.8 per cent and 6.4 per cent of crashes. RACV analysis suggests the figure is most likely less than 5 per cent of vehicle crashes.²¹

1.2.5 Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)

The former Federal Office of Road Safety (FORS), now known as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) commissioned Keatsdale Pty Ltd to report on periodic vehicle inspection schemes. In April 1999 the report Cost Effectiveness of Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection was released.

Keatsdale considered data from the Victoria Police on 1,683 crashes involving fatal and serious injuries for the period 1994-1995.

Keatsdale noted that inspections of Victorian crash scenes where fatalities or serious injuries occurred were completed by experienced mechanics. The reports were subject to detailed analysis. Keatsdale found that the processes adopted by the AIS were a rigorous and comprehensive approach to crash investigation.²²

Keatsdale reported that for 1994 and 1995:

The Victoria Police data revealed a high proportion of vehicles exhibiting defects (35.6 percent) many of which were of a minor nature. Significantly only 2.2 percent of vehicles were assessed as having defects which had caused or definitely contributed to the fatality or more serious injury crash.
The data indicates that between 1.1 percent and 2.1 percent of crashes (depending on year) were caused by vehicle defects and between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent of crashes were definitely contributed to by vehicle defects.²³