2 days ago
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Road safety strategy called into question as 2024's road toll hits 1300 – the same number as 2012's figure despite cars generally becoming safer.
The Australian road toll climbed to 1300 fatalities last year, a 3.3 per cent increase over 2023 and the highest it has been since 2012.
Across the nation, New South Wales recorded the highest road toll at 340 last year (equalling 2023’s figure), while Queensland and Victoria followed on 302 (an increase of 9%) and 281 (down 5%) respectively.
Other states that saw more road fatalities in 2024 than 2023 include Western Australia (185, +17%), the Northern Territory (58, +87%), and the Australian Capital Territory (11, up 175%).
However, South Australia and Tasmania reduced their road tolls by a respective 22 per cent and nine per cent, to 91 and 32.
The road toll has been steadily declining since 2012 to a low of 1095 in 2020, but in the last four years has shot back up.
While the 2024 figure is the same as the 2012 number, it is important to note that the fatalities per capita (or 100,000 people) has fallen from 5.78 to 4.8 due to an increase in population.
This is despite the fact that more new cars are coming to market with advanced driver safety systems such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and blind-spot monitoring – some of which are mandatory to be eligible for a five-star ANCAP safety rating – to help prevent accidents.
Newer vehicles also implement the latest in the crash-protection, such as structural deformity for absorb impacts and a more rigid passenger cell to protect occupants.
The road toll data does not show the age of vehicles involved in fatal crashes.
Of the deaths, the majority were with drivers, totalling 596 or 45.8 per cent of the overall deaths, which were followed by motorcycle deaths (278), passenger fatalities (200), then pedestrian (167) and cyclist (38) and the remainder (21) uncategorised.
However, the National Road Safety Strategy, implemented in 2021, is at risk of missing its target to reduce the road toll by at least 50 per cent, and the number of serious injuries by 30 per cent, by the end of the decade
There is also stated aim to bring the deaths of children aged under seven, in inner-city areas, and on high-speed roads to zero in the same time.
“It is clear current road safety approaches are inadequate and that more action is required to save lives,” Bradley said.
“We must use data and evidence about crashes, the state of our roads and the effectiveness of police traffic enforcement to establish what is going wrong on our roads and create more effective interventions.”
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
