Dynamics of the South Australian registered passenger vehicle fleet

Abstract

A number of vehicles registered in South Australia were originally registered elsewhere in Australia, predominantly in New South Wales. A hypothetical scenario is that vehicles transferred from New South Wales to South Australia are more likely to have been involved in a crash in New South Wales, repaired before being on-sold to vehicle purchasers in South Australia and that the South Australian used car market is perhaps at the receiving end of smash repaired vehicles. This study examined registration data from South Australia and registration data and crash data from New South Wales. Very few vehicles were involved in a previous crash in New South Wales prior to transfer to South Australia and for a majority of vehicles the crash rates compared to vehicles retained in New South Wales were not significantly different, so safety concerns about these vehicles are perhaps unjustified. While there were some vehicles from New South Wales that were involved in high-damage crashes and transferred to South Australia, these appear to be clearly identified as such.