The Most Dangerous Times to be on the Roads of Australia

We’ve examined road fatalities by state in Australia since 2011 to see commonalities in government data and find key risk factors. The results are a bit surprising.

Beware on weekends! Saturday is the worst day to be on the roads in most of Australia.

With the exception of the Australian Capital Territory, where Wednesdays are the worst, weekends are a particularly dangerous time to be out and about. South Australians and Tasmanians shouldn’t go out on Sundays.

Autumn is a tough season throughout the southern half of the country.

March is a rough month for those in Western Australia, Southern Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Queensland suffers from more road deaths in May, and New South Wales experiences more deaths in August.

For time of death, 11:00am - 7:59pm is more likely, and there’s a jump at 3:00pm for some of the most populated areas.

It’s not late at night but during the afternoon, just before rush hour, when Australians suffer from extreme, fatal crashes.

But by and large, the worst time to be on the road in Australia depends on where you are.

The worst times vary by state:

• The worst time to be on the roads in New South Wales is on a Saturday in August around 3:00pm.
• The worst time to be on the roads in Queensland is on a Saturday in May around 3:00pm.
• The worst time in Victoria is on a Saturday in March around 3:00pm.
• The worst time in South Australia is on a Sunday in March around 11:00am.
• The worst time in the Australian Capital Territory is on a Wednesday in March around 4:00pm.
• The worst time to be on the roads in the Northern Territory is on a Saturday in June around 7:00pm.
• The worst time in Western Australia is on a Saturday in March around 3:00pm.
• The worst time in Tasmania is on a Sunday in January around 1:00pm.

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