AANT wants the NT Government to act on skyrocketing road deaths

A peak motoring organisation wants the NT Government to share data publicly about road quality, the causes of fatal crashes and effectiveness of law enforcement activities to protect Territory road users as the casualty toll skyrockets.

The scene of a double fatal var accident on Roystonia Avenue in Palmerston. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

The Territory’s peak motoring organisation said the NT Government should be doing more to slow the jurisdiction’s soaring road toll.

The Automobile Association of the Northern Territory (AANT) is calling on the government to share data about road quality, the causes of fatal crashes and the effectiveness of law enforcement activities.

AANT chief executive Simon Matthias said the information should be released publicly to create more effective road safety polices to save lives.

AANT chief executive, Simon Matthias.

He said recent national data showed a 21.6 per cent increase in road deaths over the past 12 months in the Territory, including 19 lives lost in the past four months.

Mr Matthias said the funding and initiatives that governments are taking to reduce road trauma are not working.

He said there is a “significant” 40.6 per cent variance between the target trajectory to achieve the 2021-2030 National Road Safety Strategy and outcomes, with the Territory falling short of its target of halving road deaths by 2030.

St John Ambulance, along with police, are first respondents at road fatalities. Picture: Alex Treacy

“Too many people are losing their lives or suffering life changing trauma due to road crashes,” Mr Matthias said.

“The NT Government has data that can be used to better inform road safety funding and policies, but this information is not currently shared. It is now time for the Territory to follow Queensland’s example as the first state to commit to data transparency.

“Territorians deserve a data driven response.”

Mr Matthias said the national data is equally sobering, with 1286 people losing their lives in the period from March 31, 2023 to 31 March 2024, an 8.2 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The Territory’s road toll so far this year is currently at 19, with a quarter of those being pedestrian deaths. At the same time last year, the death toll was four.

A response has been sought from the NT Government.

A local man, 31, has been killed in a motorcycle crash on Gunn Point Rd. Picture: Che Chorley

The Territory’s road toll per capita is three times higher than in the rest of Australia. Last month NT Police Road Safety Division Superintendent Daniel Shean attributed the high death toll to booze, drugs, speed, failing to wear a seatbelt and fatigue.

Joel Bowden, the minister responsible for transport in the NT, said the government is committed to reducing the Territory’s road toll but declined to commit to the publication of data that AANT believed could impact fatalities and serious injuries.

“We are continuing to work with all states and territories and the National Office of Road Safety regarding the release of the annual report on the National Road Safety Action Plan which includes key data,” he said.

Originally published as AANT wants the NT Government to act on skyrocketing road deaths