Seven people killed on Western Australia’s roads in one weekend

Seven people were killed on the roads over the weekend in one Aussie state, bringing the number of fatalities to its worst record in almost a decade.

Seven people were killed in separate crashes on Western Australian roads over the weekend, taking the state’s road toll to its worst level in almost a decade.

A total of 173 people have died on WA roads this year the highest number of fatalities recorded since 2016 when 179 people were killed.

Authorities are concerned more people will be killed before the year ends, taking the number of fatalities passed the 2016 level.

A woman in her 50s was killed in WA’s Wheatbelt when two cars collided and rolled in Nippering on Saturday. Picture: ABC

WA Police Road Commander Mike Bell with just weeks until Christmas he suspected more people would suffer.

“I’ve asked them to be mindful on the roads, to think about speed, fatigue, impaired, distracted, restraint,” he said.

“Once again, they appear to be represented in all these crashes, although they are still under investigation, but early indications are that seems to be the problem.”

Police nabbed more than 100 drivers who returned a positive breath test or drug wipe in Perth over the past two weekends, raising concerns about attitudes towards risky behaviour on the roads.

WA Police Commander Mike Bell has renewed calls for drivers to take more care after a horror weekend on the state’s roads. Picture: Facebook

Commander Bell said attitudes to risky behaviour on the roads needed to change.

“We did a lockdown at the casino from 5pm Friday night for 10 hours and out of that one we had 64 positive breath tests and six positive drug wipes,“ he said.

“The week before that, we locked down Northbridge and we came up with 59 positive breath tests and seven positive drug wipes.”

Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said it had been a bad year on WA roads and while progress had been made, one death was too many.

The commissioner blamed speed as the major contributing factor, particularly on regional roads where most fatal crashes occurred in 110km zones.

He said there had been an increase from 74 to 100 fatalities in WA’s regions compared to last year, as well as more motorcycle deaths and more men who had died.

“Most of these crashes involve a single vehicle where the driver loses control at speed,” he said.

“Speed plus fatigue and/or speed plus inattention is a deadly cocktail. If you crash at speed and not wearing a seatbelt the risks are multiplied.”

Premier Roger Cook called on drives to keep safe on the roads following seven separate fatalities on WA roads over the weekend. Picture: NewsWire /Philip Gostelow

The commissioner said while most people were good drivers there was a minority of drivers who deliberately broke rules breakers and were reckless.

“But no-one is invincible to road trauma and we all can make mistakes. No-one plans a crash,” he said. 

“The cheapest, quickest way to reduce the road toll is for more people to drive at or under the speed limit more often. 

“This holiday season slow down, wear a seatbelt, try to ignore your mobile phone, don’t drive under the influence or when tired.

“Plan your journey. Getting to your destination and home again safely should be your number one priority. A few minutes saved is just not worth the risk.”

Premier Roger Cook called on drivers to keep safe on the roads ahead of the Christmas period.

“There are a lot of families that won’t be celebrating with one of their friends, one of their family members this Christmas,” he said.

“We have to do everything we can as individuals to make smart choices, to make safe choices and to keep everyone safe on the roads, particularly this time of year.”

Originally published as Seven people killed on Western Australia’s roads in one weekend