Road fatalities: Regional roads remain a safety challenge, data shows

The number of fatalities in regional areas has declined in the past year, but one key statistic has continued to rise. Search the data to see how your LGA compares.

The number of fatalities on regional roads has dropped in the past 12 months, according to TAC data.

The number of lives lost on Victoria’s regional roads has dropped in the past 12 months.

But country people remain overrepresented in regional road fatality figures, according to data from the Traffic Accident Commission.

Analysis by The Weekly Times of TAC regional road fatality figures between September 2020-21put regional road deaths at 114, down on 128 the year prior.

In comparison, Melbourne road fatalities recorded an 18 per cent increase to 110 for the past 12 months.

TAC data shows about 80 per cent of people killed on regional roads in 2020 died within a 30km radius of home, compared to about 65 per cent of regional deaths within 30kms of home in 2017-19.

TAC research also shows country drivers are more likely to speed on 100km/h regional roads

than metro drivers.

TAC head of road safety Samantha Cockfield said there was a decline in the number of deaths in regional roads in recent years, “but with more high-speed roads and people travelling further, rural areas remain a road safety challenge for us”.

“Our data tells us that it is overwhelmingly local people dying on their local roads and this just shows that there is never room for complacency, no matter how familiar you are with your surroundings,” Ms Cockfield said.

People aged 70 and over were the largest representation of people killed on Victorian roads in 2020-21, with 44 lives lost, a 42 per cent increase on the 31 lives lost the year prior.

People aged between 26-29 and 30-39 both recorded a 33 per cent and 32 per cent decline in lives lost during 2020-21.

Hospitalisations were down dramatically for the 12 months to September 2 this year.

Claims involved less than 14 days hospitalisation were 561 for 2020-21, a 37.4 per cent reduction on the 896 recorded in 2019-20.

The worst time of day to drive on regional roads remains 2pm to 3.59pm, with 18 fatalities recorded during this time in September 2020 to September 2021, compared to 16 fatalities in 2019-20.

The most common accident on regional roads, according to the TAC data, was an incident involving a vehicle running off a straight road, claiming 44 lives in 2020-21 and 38 lives the year prior.

The worst day of the week for accidents to occur in 2020-21 was Saturday, with 28 lives lost on this day of the week.