There was a 2.9 percent increase in road fatalities in the 12 months to March 2018, according to the latest road safety benchmarking report from the Australian Automobile Association (AAA).
The Benchmarking the National Road Safety Strategy report shows that 1,270 people lost their lives on Australian roads. It also indicates that all Australian states remain above the Strategy’s national targets to reduce road fatalities by 30 percent through the decade to 2020. Two states have higher fatality rates than when the targets were set.
“This is yet another report that confirms Australia’s road safety strategy is failing badly and that our national policies and programs need to be reviewed,” said AAA CEO Michael Bradley. “No state is performing well, however this report also reveals we now have two states in New South Wales and Tasmania, where road fatality rates are higher than when the Strategy was implemented in 2011. Clearly, a set-and-forget policy approach can no longer be supported.”
For the first time, the AAA benchmarking report includes data from the Australian Trauma Registry, which shows that in 2016, there was a 19 percent increase in severe injuries compared to the same period in 2013.
The report is available here.
