This was published 4 years ago
'We want the road toll to be zero': How big data could save Queensland lives
A new cross-agency team will use big data to help save lives on Queensland's roads.
The Road Safety Data Bureau will bring together staff from Transport and Main Roads, the Queensland Police Service, Motor Accident Insurance Commission and Queensland Health's Jamieson Trauma Institute.
The Palaszczuk government is establishing a cross-agency data team to tackle Queensland's road toll.Credit: Fairfax
It will help fill the "gaps" by combining information collected by various government agencies so it can be analysed by the team to develop a clearer picture of the social, emotional and economic costs of road trauma.
For example, police are not called to every minor traffic or cyclist accident, meaning they do not have the full picture of the cause and location of every crash.
But that information may be available from hospital emergency departments.
The data could be used to identify trends, such as pinpointing black spots for crashes where the road design needs to change.
In 2018, the economic cost of fatalities and hospital admissions as a result of crashes in Queensland was estimated at more than $5 billion.
Almost 15 per cent of hospital admissions are attributed to transport crashes, according to Queensland Health, accounting for almost 30,000 patient bed days each year.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said road crash data collected by government agencies was "generally excellent" but acknowledged there were reporting gaps the new team would aim to better understand.
"Relationships between these agencies already exist but co-locating these roles will allow us to develop a deeper understanding of the causes of crashes and their impacts," he said.
"We collect a lot of data across government and industry, so it makes sense for us to explore how data can allow us to make better and faster decisions.
"Single-vehicle crashes and crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are not always reported, so an accurate number and severity of safety issues may be missing from the data, particularly for those groups."
Mr Bailey said the research would also look at mental health impacts on the road toll, the involvement of alcohol in rear-end crashes, the prevalence and severity of motorcyclist injuries and crashes considered "out of scope" for the official road toll.
"We have lost 152 lives on Queensland roads already this year," he said.
"Our last budget boosted Queensland's road safety budget by $205 million to more than $900 million over four years, but we can always do more.
"We want the road toll to be zero, and to do that means looking for new opportunities to build on and complement our current road safety program."
The government has allocated $3 million for the set-up, employment and ongoing costs for the Road Safety Data Bureau over four years.