WA Road Accidents – What You Need to Know!

Our WA road accidents FAQs page answers the most common questions we get asked. It’s important to know your rights if you’ve been injured in an accident, so check out our FAQs to learn more.

How do road accidents happen?

Road accidents happen on WA roads every day. Some of the ways in which car accidents happen include:

• Rear-end collisions – These accidents occur when one vehicle collides with another vehicle from behind. This is probably the most common car accident claim in Western Australia. Usually, the driver of the vehicle that hits another vehicle from behind will be at fault but it depends on the circumstances of how the accident occurred.
• Head-on collisions – Head-on collisions are more likely to occur in regional WA. This car crashes often result in serious injury claims or road death-related dependency claims. It is important to drive within the speed limit in regional areas and take regular breaks to avoid fatigue. There is often a dispute regarding liability in these claims as both drivers claim that the other vehicle veered into their side of the road.
• One vehicle collisions – These collisions usually include scenarios where the driver loses control of their vehicle and the vehicle leaves the road. These claims are more common in regional WA. An example may be when a driver loses control on main roads in the South West of WA, leaves the road and hits a tree. Usually, only the passenger(s) will be able to make a claim in this kind of motor vehicle accident.
• Pedestrian Accidents – These accidents occur when a car collides with a pedestrian. Depending on the speed of the car and the position of the pedestrian, pedestrians can suffer from serious injury. Similar to the car hitting cyclist claims, liability is often in dispute in these accidents. The pedestrian will have to prove that the driver was negligent. The driver will often say that they were not negligent in causing the incident and that the pedestrian entered the roadway suddenly and without warning. It is important to report these injuries to WA Police so that they can investigate the circumstances of the accident.

What should I do after a car accident?

Following a car accident, you should make sure you have moved your car to a position of safety if it is still drivable. Saving lives should always be the priority and it may be necessary to call an ambulance to take one or more people to the hospital.

If you are able to do so, you should take photographs of the accident scene and take down witness details. You should also exchange details with the person who is driving the other vehicle involved (if there is another vehicle). If you are in a region of WA that you do not know well, it may be worth looking up a map location before calling WA police to report the injury. If the Police do not attend you should still report the crash through crashreport.com.au.

If you have been injured as a result of the accident you should seek immediate medical attention to ensure that your injuries are documented. It is important to understand who is at fault in a car accident. If you consider that you were not at fault, or were only partially at fault a CTP injury claim may be made with the Insurance Commission of Western Australia, the compulsory third-party insurer in Western Australia.

What is a common cause of fatal crashes?

In Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2015, it states that year there were 161 crash fatalities in Western Australia. The most common fatal crash types were hit object (30%) and non-collision crashes (18%). The most common causes of fatalities were:

• Illegal drugs – 37% of fatalities had an illegal drug in their system;
• Speed – 36% of fatalities were in a ‘speed-related crashes’;
• Alcohol – 25% of fatalities were in an ‘alcohol-related crashes’;
• Seatbelts – Of motor vehicle occupants killed in a road crash, around a quarter (25%) were not wearing a seatbelt;
• Fatigue – 11% of fatalities were in ‘fatigue-related crashes’;
• Inattention – 8% of fatalities were in ‘inattention related crashes’;

Even though the population of Perth (approximately 1.985 million) was much higher than the rest of Western Australia (approximately 489,410) there were more fatalities in Regional WA (92 fatalities) compared to the Perth Metropolitan area (69 fatalities). In regional WA, the Wheatbelt and South-West regions had the highest number of fatalities (each had 23 fatalities).

What is a fatal human crash?

A fatal human crash is a car accident where a person dies in a car crash or they die shortly after as a result of their injuries.

It is important to note that dependents of the fatally injured may be entitled to dependency claims in WA.

What speed is a fatal crash?

Fatal crashes can occur at all speeds, but it is of course the case that as speed increases (as a general concept) so does the chance of a fatal crash. In the report Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2015, the report states that in 2015 the most common speed for a fatal crash was 110kmh (65 fatalities out of a total 161 fatalities). In Western Australia, 110kmh is the legal speed limit for driving on country roads.

What is the deadliest type of crash?

The deadliest type of crash in Western Australia is a single-vehicle accident where the vehicle hits an object. This is stated in Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2015 the report states that in 2015 a single-vehicle accident where the vehicle hits an object was the most common cause of a fatality. This could include a situation where a car collided with a tree or a car collided with a pedestrian.

How often is someone killed on Western Australian roads?

On 5 October 2019 the RAC reported that every day, on average, two people are killed on Western Australian roads. This is based on 850 people dying over a five year period and is said to be the worst in Australia.

How many car accidents are caused by medical conditions?

A South Australian report, states that based on an in-depth at-scene investigation of 298 road crashes in the Adelaide metropolitan area half of the drivers, riders and pedestrians involved in the crashes had at least one pre-existing medical condition, and half of these individuals had two or more such conditions. A medical condition was the main causal factor in 13% of the casualty crashes investigated and accounted for 23% of all hospital admission and fatal crash outcomes.

If you are injured in a car accident and made a personal injury claim in WA, contact Foyle Legal for your obligation-free initial claim review. We have a team of car accident lawyers in Perth who can provide legal representation on a NO WIN NO FEE basis.