Youth road fatalities fall to their lowest levels ever recorded across Australia

Youth road fatalities fall to their lowest levels ever recorded across Australia

19 January 2026

While Australia’s road fatalities continued an upwards trend, reaching 1,314, the worst year since 2010, youth road users (aged 17 to 25), fell to the lowest levels ever recorded, with 201 fatalities, 18 less than 2024. Youths now comprise 15.3% of all road fatalities, down from 24.4% in 2001.

Youth road fatalities fell for drivers and passengers, with a fall of 16% compared to 2024, and also the lowest level ever recorded:

Youth vehicle occupant fatalities fell across most states compared to 2024:

New Zealand Road Fatalities fall to lowest levels

Across the Tasman, overall road fatalities fell to the lowest level recorded, to 273 fatalities, a fall of 6.5% compared to 2025. Young road users, aged 15 to 24, also fell to the lowest level recorded, with 58 fatalities. Youth as a percent of all ages remained constant at 21.2% of all fatalities.

Drilling further into these statistics, there was an increase in young driver fatalities in New Zealand, especially in female drivers (up 60% from 5 to 8), while young male driver fatalities grew from 23 to 24 last year.

The role of education in reducing road fatalities

“While more still needs to be done, it pleasing to see that successful interventions from novice driver restrictions to targeted, specialised education, such as Ryda, are seeing a positive shift in these statistics,” states Road Safety Education Limited’s (RSE) CEO, Maria Lovelock. “All the evidence points to best practice road safety education making real changes to attitudes to road use, and behaviour on the road, for drivers and their passengers.”

RSE’s Head of Program Delivery and Group Data, John Elliott, added that “2025 analysis of Ryda students showed the impact on willingness to undertake risky behaviour, with a 54% drop in willingness to pick up a phone while driving, a 53% drop in willingness to drive while fatigued, a 44% drop in willingness to speed, and a 30% drop in willingness to drive without a seatbelt. Within 3 months of attending a Ryda workshop, 93% of students had applied at least one strategy they learnt at Ryda on the road.”

Not only are 87% of young driver fatalities in Australia male, the number of young male driver fatalities remained constant in 2025 remaining constant at 71, while young female driver fatalities fell by 57% in 2025. “While Ryda is targeted at all senior high school students, these statistics show a greater need to target more boys schools in our projected growth plans for 2026 and beyond.”

Regional drivers remain over-represented in fatalities, but interventions can have an impact. “In NSW, while young driver fatalities fell in metropolitan areas, they grew in regional and remote areas, with over 82% of NSW young driver fatalities taking place on regional and remote roads. In QLD, where RSE has received significant support from the Queensland Government’s Community Road Safety Grants Program, regional driver fatalities fell by 15%.”

“Last year more students participated in Ryda across Australia and New Zealand than ever before. Drawing in the support we receive from our corporate, government and community partners, we will continue to strive to make Ryda accessible to as many students as possible. Our vision is for communities free from road deaths and injury, and these statistics show there is more to be done to reach this goal,” concludes Maria Lovelock.

-ENDS-

For media enquiries or interview opportunities, please contact: John Elliott, Head of Program Delivery and Group Data | john@rse.org.au | 0434 292 210

Editor Notes:

• Road Safety Education Limited (RSE) is a not-for-profit organisation providing best-practice road safety programs for young people throughout Australia and New Zealand.
• Every year, tens of thousands of young people participate in RSE’s Ryda program which aims to change the way they think and act on the roads, both as drivers and passengers.
• To date, over 900,000 young people have participated.
• RSE is supported by corporate partners: (in Australia) BOC, Toyota, Bridgestone and Boral | (in New Zealand) BOC, Toyota, Bridgestone, NZ Steel and AMI
• Ryda is the brand name of RSE’s youth road safety education program. It is not an acronym.
• Rotary partners with RSE to deliver Ryda.
• For more information on road safety education in your community, visit rse.org.au or rse.org.nz.