As one of the state’s leading towing service companies, our tow truck drivers work on Melbourne’s busiest roads and districts. For over 30 years, our emergency tow truck services have been available in all suburbs from Geelong, through the CBD, to the Eastern suburbs and all the way down the Mornington Peninsula. But which are our most frequented areas? As part of a new blog series, Gardenstate Towing are blogging about the number of road accidents requiring emergency and salvage towing services in Victoria.
This week, we look at the number of road accidents in Boroondara, the Local Government Area (LGA) comprising Camberwell, Hawthorn, Glen Iris, Balwyn, Canterbury, Surrey Hills, Deepdene, and Kew. Gardenstate Towing take the latest crash statistics from VicRoads.
VicRoads’ statistics include all accidents reported to the police. We have used the latest data they have made available, covering 2011 to 2015. Their partner, Transport Accident Commission, do not include all crashes, only those resulting in injury. We have used their data for 2016 and 2017.
Car Accidents in Boroondara: 2011 to 2015
VicRoads report 1,674 road accidents that resulted in injury. On average, there were 325 accidents per year. 2015 reported the fewest injurious accidents, with 303. According to the stats, 307 accidents between 2011 and 2015 were on local roads. The remaining 1,367 were on highways and arterials. 461 resulted in serious injury, and 14 were fatal. 2015 saw 93 injurious accidents and 6 fatal; 2014, 94 and 8; 2013, 89 and three ; 2012, 112 and 5; and 2011, 105 and seven.
VicRoads only record accidents in which somebody has been injured or where police have been called, which thankfully do not make up the majority of car accidents. Breakdowns and salvage tows are far more common, but because they seldom require police intervention, they are not reported in official accident tallies.
Car Accidents in Boroondara 2016
The Transport Accident Commission, partnered with VicRoads, report that in 2016, there were 86 injurious and four fatal accidents. The TAC’s is the only data available for 2016 and 2017. Its data does not include accidents without injuries. 2016’s data supports the trend towards fewer accidents, being lower than 2015’s, which itself was lower than 2014’s.
Car Accidents in Boroondara 2017
From January to August, there were 89 road accidents that resulted in hospitalisation in Boroondara. There was one resulting in fatality. The data only covers the first ⅔ of 2017. Its number of accidents for those eight months was equal to 2016’s full 12. The last four months of the year are notorious for road accidents. This means that there were probably more car accidents in Boroondara in 2017 than in 2016.
Private Property Salvage Tows
VicRoads’ statistics do not include accidents on private property. Boroondara is a built-up area with lots of street parking. Driveways are short, and property sizes are small. Unlike in regional areas, then, there would seem to be few private property accidents requiring a salvage tow in Kew, Balwyn and the like. Nevertheless, every week, our salvage towing teams rescue cars that have gone a little too far into their driveways, been bogged in lawns, become lodged in a fence, or overshot an embankment. Other salvage tows in Kew, such as where a car has left the road, or ended up on its side, are counted in VicRoads’ tallies.
Gardenstate Towing
The majority of our time is not spent attending serious road accidents. We also provide a wealth of other towing services, including motorcycle, boat and machinery transportation, specialised towing (like we do for Melbourne’s F1), roadside assistance/ breakdown tows and interstate transportation. For all your towing services in Kew, Hawthorn, Werribee, or anywhere in the Greater Melbourne Region, like Abbotsford or Wantirna, contact Gardenstate Towing today.
