Citation

Hildebrand ED, Rose G. Road Transp. Res. 2002; 11(1): 52-65.

Affiliation

Institute of Transport Studies, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Monash, Vic., Australia

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Australian Road Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Bus safety in Australia was benchmarked against Canada and the United States. The analysis highlights that the bus fatality rate in Australia (on a per vehicle-kilometre basis) is about half that in the United States or Canada. While this is encouraging, more disaggregate analyses highlight areas where safety can be improved. Buses experience high fatality rates than motor vehicles overall, with this primarily due to their incompatibility with passenger vehicles and pedestrians. Compared to other countries, Australia has a substantially worse safety performance with school buses, especially for collisions involving pedestrians. In fact, the fatality rate of school-age pedestrians killed in Australian school bus accidents was more than four times that in the United States and nearly double the Canadian rate. Population-based fatality rates for passengers on urban route or intercity bus services are shown to be upwards of 10 times those in the United States and Canada. When bus passengers and occupants of other vehicles are considered, intercity buses generated fatality rates more than double those in comparable countries. Mini-buses may be responsible for a disproportionate number of casualties in some states compared to other types of buses. The paper concludes by identifying several research initiatives that would help to provide a foundation for the objective and effective allocation of resources targeted to improve bus safety.

Language: en