Following a period of steady decline in national road tolls in Australia and New Zealand, recent consecutive increases in annual road fatalities have caused community concern, with policy makers and road safety organisations working to ascertain reasons for this trend reversal.

It is well established that newer vehicles generally offer higher levels of safety when compared to older vehicles, due to technology developments and the inclusion of specific safety features, with studies based on real-world data supporting this [1,2]. Statistical studies of real world crashes often report on factors such as driver age, crash type and posted speed limit, however the involvement of vehicle age in fatal crashes is less understood.

To build a greater understanding of the age of vehicles involved in crashes occurring in Australia and New Zealand, ANCAP began monitoring the age of light passenger and sports utility vehicles involved in fatal crashes, with the findings used to inform road safety policies and community education and awareness activities.

In 2018, ANCAP developed a national community awareness campaign targeting community consideration of vehicle age with the objective of encouraging fleet renewal.

This paper sets out the research findings over the analysed five-year period from 2012-2016 and the effectiveness of the subsequent national community awareness campaign.