A report by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has found that ‘dramatic change’ is needed to meet Australia’s National Road Safety Strategy goal of 50 per cent national road death reduction by 2030.
According to the AAA, road deaths increased 9.3 per cent from the September 2022 to the December 2022 quarter, and by 5.1 per cent throughout the whole of 2022. This has resulted in a total of 1,187 people dying on Australian roads last year.
The report showed that the largest increases in road death numbers over a 12-month period are in Tasmania (42.9 per cent), the Northern Territory (34.3 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (63.6 per cent), and Queensland (7.9 per cent) saw the largest increases in road death numbers.
In a media statement, AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley said: “This is yet another report that shows our national approach to road trauma management continues to lack clarity and coordination.”
“The strong targets agreed by government are welcome, but strong targets do not by themselves deliver better results. If we want different outcomes, we need to change the way road trauma is being managed and the first step must be appropriate reporting and sharing of road crash information,” added Mr. Bradley.
“It is unacceptable that governments continue to commit to reducing trauma metrics that they do not measure or report,” he adds.
“Until road trauma data is openly reported and used by governments, the most significant causes of Australian road trauma; the most appropriate interventions; and the effectiveness of the plans currently in place, will remain unknown,” said Mr. Bradley.
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