Traffic and road safety effects of the 2020 COVID-19 restrictions in South Australia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to document relevant COVID-19 restrictions in South Australia and present the resultant effects on traffic and road safety measures during 2020 through comparison with years prior to the pandemic. Data were extracted from various sources to analyse the changes throughout 2020 and during two active COVID-19 periods, for both the whole of South Australia as well as for metropolitan Adelaide and rural areas separately. A 'matching dates' process was devised to account for the effects of public holidays and asynchronous days of weeks between comparison years. Over the whole of 2020, traffic volumes decreased by 8.5%, average traffic speeds decreased by 0.7%, and injury crashes decreased by 18.7%. The first COVID-19 period, from mid-March to the start of May, was associated with a decrease in traffic volumes of 33.8%, an increase in traffic speeds of 0.7%, and a decrease in injury crashes of 28.1%. The second COVID-19 period, in mid-November during a 3-day statewide lockdown, was associated with a 57.0% decrease in traffic volumes, an 8.1% increase in traffic speeds, and a 24.1% decrease in injury crashes.