We investigate plane crashes – why not road deaths?

A leading Australian safety body is demanding the creation of a national agency to save thousands of wasted lives.

Last year 1300 Australians died on our roads.

That number was 18.5 per cent higher than 2021, when a 10-year plan was introduced by the Australian government to halve road deaths.

It is ten times the number of fatalities in air, rail and marine transport combined.

Yet Australia does not have a national agency tasked with investigating the cause of road deaths.

Now, Australia’s top road safety body is demanding change.

The Australian College of Road Safety (ACRS) is calling on the Federal government to establish an independent road crash investigation agency.

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1300 Australians died on our roads last year. Picture: Supplied

The idea would be modelled on the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), to uncover the systematic failures behind fatal and serious collisions.

Plane or train disasters, which trigger immediate in-depth investigations by the ATSB yet road crashes receive no such scrutiny at the federal level.

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ACRS chief executive officer Dr Ingrid Johnson is baffled that while major air, marine and rail incidents receive immediate federal investigations, deadly road crashes are often forgotten.

“When there’s a crash on a plane, boat or train, we do an in-depth investigation to find out why it happened and how we can prevent it from ever happening again, road users deserve the same level of investigative oversight to reduce these tragedies.” she said.

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Safety experts want to cut the road toll. Picture: Mark Wilson

Road safety experts already work to address causes of crashes, such as speeding, drink-driving and driver fatigue, but without thorough crash investigations, critical lessons like infrastructure failures or vehicle defects may be missed.

The ACRS is proposing not to replace local police or state-based departments but rather complement them.

A national body would support Australia’s goal of dramatically reducing deaths and serious injuries under the National Road Safety Strategy.

“Every crash we prevent through better understanding of systemic risks is not only a life saved, but a cost avoided. That’s fewer emergency responses, fewer hospital beds filled, and fewer families devastated — both emotionally and financially. Investing in a national crash investigation agency is a smart investment in Australia’s future.” Johnston said.

The strategy was launched in 2021 and has ambitious goals to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads by 50 per cent over the next decade.

A spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said that, due to the upcoming Federal Election, it was unable to provide comment during the caretaker period.