Forty years old is the most dangerous year of Australians’ lives, challenging the commonly held belief that risk taking adolescents are the most accident-prone generation, according to groundbreaking new research.

Suncorp Life’s “Year of Living Dangerously” report analyses the top five causes of accidental death in Australia and surprisingly found that those in the “prime of their lives”are more likely to die by accident than any other generation.

The report also finds that NSW is the safest state per capita while Western Australia is the most dangerous.

Of the almost 2,300 Australians who died by accident during the review period:

  • 54% were on our roads
  • 25% died by poisoning
  • 11% fell to their death
  • 6% drowned
  • 4% choked to death.

“Surprisingly it is not the young who are most at risk of accidental death, but those approaching middle age,” Suncorp Life CEO Geoff Summerhayes said.

“By the time you turn 40 it’s likely you’ll have a mortgage. You may also have a young family and in some cases elderly relatives that need caring for too.”

“Yet 40 years old is the most dangerous year of all, and most people don’t even know it.” From a generational point of view:

  • Generation Z (0-18 years) is most prone to drowning
  • Generation Y (19-30 years) is the most dangerous on our roads with the highest incidence of road deaths
  • Generation X (31-45 years) is most likely to suffer from accidental poisoning
  • While the baby boomer generation (46-64 years) is most at risk from choking deaths and falls.

On a state by state basis, Western Australia is the most dangerous state per capita in Australia, followed by South Australia, Queensland and Victoria. NSW is the safest state per capita in the country.

Accident data was analysed for the 2008 calendar year from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport and Work Safe Australia, for those aged under 75 years.