Pollution emitted by cars is killing 10 times more Australians annually than road accidents, according to new modelling from climate researchers.

New estimates released by University of Melbourne group Melbourne Climate Futures suggest vehicle pollution may cause more than 11,000 deaths a year in Australia, while car accidents killed 1187 people in 2022.

Melbourne Climate Futures Academy fellows Clare Walter and Dr Kelvin Say revealed the latest research at the Vehicle Pollution Forum in late February, with the numbers in the study formulated by scaling a peer-reviewed New Zealand study of vehicle-emission impacts on the Australian population.

“There are short and long-term changes we can make to mitigate the effects of traffic pollution in Australia and dramatically improve health outlooks, as well as the economic burden of emissions-related health impacts,” Walters says.

“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.”

Roland Sapsford, chief executive of the Climate and Health Alliance, also believes electric vehicles are essential to bring down the number of deaths caused by vehicle pollution.