Qld’s horror road toll: 290 dead in one year, ‘can’t be ignored any longer’
Queensland’s road toll is tracking more than 40 per cent above a target agreed to by the state and federal governments, which aims to halve fatalities by 2030.
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Queensland’s road toll is tracking more than 40 per cent above a target agreed to by the state and federal governments, which aims to halve fatalities by 2030.
The Australian Automobile Association’s Benchmarking Report tracks progress toward the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30, which was agreed to by all Australian governments in 2021.
The report shows road deaths in Queensland are on a shocking upward trajectory, jumping 3.6 per cent with 290 deaths recorded in the year to March 31.
In Queensland, road deaths were 40.1 per cent above the target if there was a smooth trajectory towards the 2030 goal.
It comes after The Courier-Mail’s Help our Highway campaign revealed fatal crashes on the Bruce Highway soared by more than 60 per cent since 2019, with calls for more to be done to improve safety – including improved transparency of road data.
AAA managing director Michael Bradley said the federal government needed to commit to an election promise made in 2022 to extract better quality road safety data from states and territories in return for funding road projects.
“Road deaths are continuing to increase, which is not surprising in Queensland, as The Courier-Mail has highlighted in its recent campaign about the state of the Bruce Highway,” he said.
“Now is the time for the federal government to immediately require state and territory governments to share more data about the causes of crashes, road conditions and policing so we can understand what is going wrong on our roads.
“The Queensland State Government has agreed to do this voluntarily, although the timing of the release of this data is unclear. The Federal Government should now press the other states and territories to follow suit.”
He said the continued rise in Australia’s road toll can’t be ignored any longer.
“ … The time has come for the Australian Government to fulfil its election promise and end the needless secrecy surrounding state-held road safety data,” Mr Bradley said.
“Australia needs a data-driven response to a problem killing more than 100 people every month, and as we enter another election year, it’s time our state and federal leaders showed their commitment to saving lives is greater than their desire to save marginal seats.”
Mr Bradley said states and territories needed to make more crash data public, noting Queensland Transport Minister Bart Mellish had committed to providing Queensland’s data to the federal government.
“Unfortunately, the (National Road Safety Strategy) is more of a wishlist than a real plan, and governments will not take the steps needed to make it effective.
“Every state and territory government has valuable data on road quality assessments, crash causes, and the effectiveness of law enforcement measures, including involvement of speeding, drink driving, drugged driving, and mobile phone use in crashes. But they do not make this data public.
“Sharing it would reveal valuable insights to guide road investment, law enforcement, and policy changes. It would also provide much-needed accountability that would increase public confidence that road funding is being spent where it can be most effective in saving lives.
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