Horror transport toll of vehicle emissions revealed

Analysis published by Melbourne Climate Futures ahead of a Vehicle Pollution Forum today suggests that vehicle emissions in Australia may cause 11,105 premature deaths in adults per year – about 10 times the national road toll.

Vehicle emissions may cause 12,210 cardiovascular hospitalisations, 66,000 active asthma cases, and 6,840 respiratory hospitalisations per year. 

Dr Kelvin Say, Melbourne Climate Futures Academy fellow and a climate researcher with the University of Melbourne said “Governments spend an enormous amount of money raising awareness about the accident road toll but don’t even collect an official estimate of the pollution road toll and this needs to change”.

“With the federal government aiming for 3.8 million electric vehicles in 2030, with 90 per cent of new car registrations being EVs, there could be significant and positive implications for health costs in Australia,” he said.

Clare Walter, a Melbourne Climate Futures honorary fellow and doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland’s the School of Public Health, said a rapid switch to electric cars could “dramatically improve health outlooks, as well as the economic burden of emissions-related

health impacts”.

”With these high levels of mortality and morbidity impacts, we look to our leaders to make the decisions required to reduce the social, economic and human costs of vehicle emissions,” she said.

Behyad Jafari, chief executive of the electric vehicles council reiterated that “combustion engine vehicles are not only bad for the environment, they’re bad for our health”.

“Thankfully, their replacement with electric vehicles will reduce this toll,” he said.
“But health and environmental outcomes can improve even faster if the government introduces a strong mandatory fuel efficiency standard, which would decarbonise manufacturers’ portfolios of new vehicles.

“Australia has some of the most polluting vehicles in the world yet is the only OECD country without mandatory fuel efficiency standards.

 “Right now, Australia is choking in the slow lane. We can’t overtake without the targets.”