Western Australia (WA) is on track to record one of the worst road tolls of the past decade, according to a new report.
Released by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), the report reveals that WA has the highest road fatality rate of any State in the country.
Now the State Government has called for a funding partnership with the Federal Government to deliver a long-term road safety program for regional WA to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.
“Regional WA’s road fatality rate is six times higher than metropolitan Perth, with more than 60 percent of road fatalities occurring on regional roads last year, despite only 20 percent of the population living in regional communities,” said Will Golsby, General Manager Corporate Affairs at RAC which is a member of AAA. “Many crashes which result in death or serious injury could be avoided through low-cost safety treatments such as sealing shoulders and installing audible edge lines.”
The nine-year funding program would deliver around $100 million each year to upgrade more than 17,000km of WA’s regional road network.
