5 times more likely to die: New RACQ data reveals Bruce Hwy statistics that must change

The Opposition says it will fight “tooth and nail” for an 80/20 funding split with the federal government to finish the Bruce Highway, if elected in October.

Opposition Leader David Crusafulli says he will fight “tooth and nail” for a 80/20 funding split with the Federal Government to finish the Bruce Highway, should he be elected in October.

It comes after analysis that showed motorists using Queensland’s major highway are five times more likely to be injured or killed in a crash than those driving on the major carriageway that links Sydney and Melbourne.

Shocking new analysis also reveals the entirety of the Bruce Highway is on average three times worse than the Pacific Highway to Sydney, with some sections of Queensland’s main road up to 10 times worse.

It comes after double fatality on the Bruce Highway after a head-on crash near Innisfail.

Speaking in Cairns on Friday, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said 80/20 funding was non negotiable.

“80/20 is our non negotiable when it comes to the Bruce Highway that should be, and has always been, and we’ll fight, fight hard to get a fair contribution and a large contribution on Kuranda as well,” he said.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli says he will fight “tooth and nail” to secure a funding split if he’s elected. Picture: Lachie Millard

“We’ll fight tooth and nail for our fair share of funding (and) make sure that we’ve got a proper plan that delivers upgrades every single year, year on year, on time and on budget.”

Asked whether those funding upgrades would include the Kuranda Range, Mr Crisfaulli said that project, would need its own separate funding injection.

The state government last week promised to fund a $450m bridge over the Barron River if re-elected and spend another $262m on a range of future Kuranda Range Rd upgrades.

“I don’t want to water down the fact that 80/20 is the historical funding for the Bruce Highway,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“Make no mistake, if we are going to fix the chaos that is the Kuranda Range, there is going to need to be a serious funding injection from the federal government, but at the very least, it needs a proper plan.”

The shocking data has been released as part of a fresh push by major stakeholders urging political parties to commit to a 10-year funding plan with the Federal Government to urgently eliminate all two-star sections of the Bruce Hwy.

Traffic builds on the Bruce Highway as emergency services respond to a fatal crash between Ingham and Cardwell in the state’s north. Picture: Cameron Bates

RACQ’s expert analysis of AusRAP crash data shows upgrades, including the installation of dual carriageways on the Hume and Pacific Highways have almost eliminated the head-on crash risk which account for more than half of the fatalities on the Bruce Highway.

By contrast, 1398km of the Bruce Highway from Gympie to Cairns remains single lane and undivided, leading to an average per kilometre travelled fatal and serious injury (FSI) crash rate three times higher than rural sections of the Pacific Highway and five times higher than rural sections of the Hume Highway.

The worst parts of Queensland’s highway include stretches from Childers to Gin Gin, Sarina to Mackay, Mackay to Prosperine and Gin Gin to Miriam Vale.

The section of road where three women were killed in a horror bus crash last month between Bowen to Ayr was also among the most dangerous.

Stakeholders pushing for change include RACQ, Local Government Association of Queensland, Queensland Farmer’s Federation, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Queensland, Queensland Trucking Association and Queensland Tourism Industry Council.

It comes after The Courier-Mail exposed alarming safety concerns in its Help Our Highway campaign launched in April which called for a long-term, detailed commitment from the federal government to finally “finish the Bruce” and for increased funding commitments from 2025-30.

RACQ managing director and CEO David Carter said the research showed fixing the Bruce Highway was the number one priority for Queenslanders.

“The Bruce Highway is the backbone of this State, it’s supposed to be a national highway but when you compare it to the Pacific or Hume, it’s substandard,” Mr Carter said.

“Those interstate highways have rightfully been upgraded to three, four and five stars out of five for infrastructure safety, yet around half of the Bruce is still a poor two-star rating. In 2024, there is no way Queensland should have any two-star sections on the Bruce Highway.

“There are parts of regional Queensland where that statistic is nearly 10 times more likely that you will be killed or seriously injured using the Bruce Highway.”

A rating of two out of five stars fails basic safety ratings.

Mr Carter said the Cooroy to Curra section of the Bruce Highway was an example of a proper upgrade that could save lives as it now has a similar crash rate to parts of the Hume.

The wreckage of a Greyhound bus crash which claimed the lives of three women at Gumlu, on one of the most dangerous stretches of the highway.

“It’s Queensland’s turn for a decent national highway that we can all rely on,” he said.

“It will need a significant investment, we’re talking billions of dollars, not millions.”

“It will require federal and state governments to commit together. It needs bipartisan support so it survives electoral cycles.”

Mr Carter said the work needed to move from a two star to three star would involve making roads wider, putting safety barriers between the two lanes of traffic, clearing hazards from the side of the road and fixing some intersections.

LGAQ chief executive Alison Smith said Councils welcomed the State governments extra $50 million a year in the budget but were concerned after the Federal Government announced it would split funding with the State Government to 50-50.

A woman died on the Bruce Highway following a crash south of Edmonton. Picture: File

“We are looking for election commitments in the lead up to October for there to be a joint delegation of team Queensland down to Canberra, a joint delegation of local government, industry and with the state government to talk to Canberra about getting a fairer funding deal,” she said.

“A 80-20, split of funding for national infrastructure like the Bruce Highway.”

QFF chief executive Jo Shepherd said the Bruce Highway was a critical connector so that farmers could get their produce down to the southern markets.

“It is a national road. It should be our best road, not our most high risk road,” she said.

“If we are going to maintain a sustainable and viable food production system in Queensland, key road infrastructure absolutely needs to support that.”

RACS Qld trauma committee chair Professor Martin Wullschleger said the statistics show they see 200 people a year severely injured just from the Bruce Highway alone.

“An upgrade would not only ease the load on doctors and health services but most importantly reduce the burden of crashes with injuries and fatalities” he said.

“It clogs up emergency departments as well. Because for one severe injured patient, you have sometimes 20-30 staff members, health professionals working on one patient, that could actually look after 10 other patients.”

Prof Wullschleger said the number of people coming through took a toll on hospital staff.

QTI chief executive Brett Fraser said Queensland tourism operators and key destinations were often cut off from the rest of the state and would-be visitors by flooding events.

Emergency services attending a fatal car crash on the Bruce Highway, south of Townsville at Mount Surround. Picture: File

“From the city to the bush, it is critical that all of our exceptional locations, experiences and sights be easily accessible by travellers,” he said.

“We understand the ambition for multi laning all the way to Cairns is extraordinarily expensive and will take its time, but with the right ramp up of investment over the next decade, we could substantially improve the safety of that road all the way through to Cairns.”

Mr Fraser said drivers get nervous through particular sections of the road.

“For more than 40 years, road safety discipline has very much taught us to get out of a vehicle every 200 kilometres, stretch your legs, freshen up, and ensure that you’re in a fit state to drive the next couple of 100 kilometres,” he said.

“Well, if you have a look at the Bruce Highway, I’d make this observation, where is it possible to stop every 200km at a substantial and professional rest area so that you can undertake that rest.

“So on the one hand, we’ve drilled that advice into people, but on the other hand, we don’t make the means available to be able to do it.”

Opposition infrastructure spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said the Bruce Highway was suffering from a decade of underinvestment.

“The LNP Opposition has a strong record of standing up to Canberra and will continue to do so regardless who is in power,” he said.

“The LNP will end Labor’s soaring infrastructure blowouts and deliver projects on time and on budget which allows for more investment in more road projects for Queenslanders.

Premier Steven Miles said there was a lot more of the Bruce Highway in Queensland.

“We also have those large provincial centres along the Bruce which are unique to Queensland, very different to Victoria and New South Wales,” he said.

“But obviously, any road death is one death too many, and we will continue to improve the Bruce Highway, continue to improve safety, continued to improve its resilience to flooding and other disaster events.

“But I don’t think we’ll ever be done with that job. We will always be investing more into the Bruce because it is our state’s major artery.”

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Bart Mellish said they welcome the strong advocacy by RACQ.

“The Bruce is the backbone of our State. It is simply unacceptable for the Federal Government to reduce funding for this critical national highway and we will continue to fight against this move,” he said.

“The Miles Government has committed to providing AusRAP data to the Australian Government from 2025 onwards. We are committed to improving these star ratings.

“In June this year, we released the 15-year Vision and Action Plans for the Bruce Highway and the Safer Bruce 2030 Action Plan.”

Queensland Farmers Federation CEO Jo Sheppard said the Bruce Highway was critical for the sector. Picture Supplied

Originally published as 5 times more likely to die: New RACQ data reveals Bruce Hwy statistics that must change