May day a time to beware

SATURDAY is the most dangerous day to be on any Australian road and March is the worst month, with the highest number of deaths.

Analysis obtained by News Corp Australia for the first time has revealed that overall, the deadliest time for motorists to be on the road is between 3pm and 4pm.

The analysis from Teletrac Navman, a leading global GPS fleet management provider, has revealed the most dangerous times to be on the roads based on data from the Federal Government’s Australian Road Deaths Database.

The data is based on deaths on the road from 2011 to July this year when there were 9200 deaths including 2535 women and 6649 men.

Gender could not be determined in seven of the deaths.

It also revealed the average age of those killed was 44.

In Queensland, 3pm- 4pm is the most dangerous hour again, but May is the most dangerous month overall.

Most deaths were caused by car crashes and 46.5 per cent of those who died were drivers, while the remaining 19.1 per cent were passengers, followed by motorcyclists ( 16.6 per cent), pedestrians ( 13.7 per cent) and cyclists ( 3.1 per cent).

Chris L’Ecluse, a solutions specialist at Teletrac Navman, said the car crashes and road deaths occurred mainly at intersections and during people’s trips to and from home and work.

“When drivers are in a familiar environment, they drive in a subconscious state,” he said.

“Because we drive to and from work and home so regularly, we don’t pay as much attention as we should.”