news

Australian road toll rises in 2019

The number of people killed on Australian roads rose again in 2019, with the national road toll finishing at 1182.


Victoria had a horror year on the roads, with 50 more lives lost than the year before, while South Australia saw its death toll rise by 33.

The road toll also increased in New South Wales and Western Australia, while the remaining states and territories had fewer deaths on their roads.

In total, 1182 people died on the road in Australia last year – up 47 on 2018.

 

New South Wales: 352, increase of six deaths on 2018

Victoria: 263, increase of 50

Queensland: 217, decrease of 28

Western Australia: 164, increase of six

South Australia: 113, increase of 33

Northern Territory: 35, decrease of 15

Tasmania: 32, decrease of one

ACT: Six, decrease of three

 

The increasing road toll comes despite a study revealing cars are safer than ever, with data from independent crash-test authority ANCAP revealing 92 per cent of the new cars sold in Australia have a five-star safety rating.

Cars with a four-star rating represent just three per cent of new car sales, and cars with a three-star rating or lower account for just one per cent of sales.

As of July 2019, more than half the cars sold in Australia were fitted with potentially life-saving autonomous emergency braking technology, which automatically slams on the brakes if it detects an impending rear-end collision.

State governments are also deploying new technology and harsher penalties to curb distracted driving. New South Wales last month rolled out world-first mobile phone detection cameras, capable of snapping photos of drivers touching their phones while driving.

Queensland will also trial the cameras, and has increased the penalty for mobile phone use behind the wheel to $1000.

Chat with us!







Chat with Agent