Halfway through the ten-year road safety strategy and crash figures continue to go in the wrong direction, a leading mortising body insists.
National Road Safety Strategy (2021-30) which aimed to halve road deaths through the decade to 2030 has instead seen an 18.2 per cent increase in road fatalities since its 2021.
While the number of cars on the road has increased, major innovations in vehicle safety including ADAS systems, mandatory AEB and other road engineering improvements have not countered a spiralling road toll.
Vulnerable road users
The figure also highlight the escalating costs to vulnerable road users including pedestrians and motorcyclists.
The latest year on year figures show a 6.8 per cent in the 12 months to 30 September with other problem areas highlighting the high proportion of single car fatalities .
The past 12 months saw Australian pedestrian deaths increase by 23.4 per cent, with 206 pedestrians killed.
Motorcyclist deaths were an alarmingly common category, 259 deaths in the period, however this was a 6.2 per cent decrease.
Most fatal crashes involve a single vehicle, with 681 such crashes in the 12 months ending September 2025, or 54.5 per cent of all fatal crashes rising 8.3 per cent from the previous corresponding period.
Lowering speeds
The federal government is looking at lowering the speed limit on roads without posted speed limits and is seeking feedback on the proposal it says could improve safety.
The prposal highlights a 10 per cent increase in road fatalities per 100,000 population since 2020 with the rate 8.5 per cent higher than the OECD median fatality rate.
It also noted 65 per cent of these road fatalities occurred outside of major cities with 85 percent happening roads with speed limits higher than 80km/h.
The proposal highlights lowering the default limit to 80 km/h could save 401 annual fatalities and 6,312 serious injuries, and 123 fatalities and 4,182 serious injuries for unsealed roads but this would come at a cost with an increased travel times.
Review needed
The Australian Automobile Association says the federal government needed to use an upcoming review to establish the causes for the worsening toll.
AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley said the figures highlighted a clear failure of the National Road Safety Strategy.
“While state police undertake the important work of apportioning blame for individual crashes, the data shows there is a need for investigations that identify system-wide causes of road trauma, and which can lead to their future prevention.
“With road deaths continuing to increase, a new approach is needed to identify causes of road trauma and recommend policy responses.”
In the 12 months to 30 September, road deaths rose in six of the eight states and territories – Tasmania (up 20 per cent), NSW (14.4 per cent), the ACT (14.3 per cent), Queensland (12.9 per cent), Western Australia (7.8 per cent) and Victoria (1.4 per cent). Road deaths declined in the Northern Territory (down 35.5 per cent). South Australia’s 12-monthly road death count remained unchanged.
Almost half of road death victims in the 12 months to 30 September 2025 were drivers (621), an 11.3 per cent increase from the previous corresponding period.