- New report shows half of national road safety targets not being met
- Road toll higher today than 4 years ago
- 1,214 people died on Australian roads in last 12 months
- Meeting of Transport Ministers this Friday must take urgent life-saving action
Continued government inaction on Australia’s National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) is costing lives. New analysis by Australia’s peak motoring body shows that 48 per cent of the strategy’s targets will not be met. Even worse, another 24 per cent of its targets cannot even be measured.
Signed by state and federal governments in 2011, the strategy aims to reduce road death and injuries by 30 per cent through the decade to 2020. Yet new data shows Australia’s road toll is higher today than it was four years ago: 1,214 people died on Australian roads in the 12 months to 30 June 2019 – compared to a 12-month toll of 1,170 at the end of June 2015.
The National Road Safety Strategy contains 33 individual Safety Performance Indicators. Analysis released today shows only 9 of those 33 indicators are “On Track” to be met. Five have been classified as “Not on Track”, while a further 11 have been deemed “Unlikely to be Met”. Eight years after the strategy began, 8 of the 33 indicators are either still not being measured or have not been assigned agreed targets.
The results are set out in the AAA’s National Road Safety Strategy Progress Report, which compares data from regional, remote and metropolitan roads and displays the results in an easily understood traffic-light format.
The AAA today also released its latest Benchmarking the performance of the National Road Safety Strategy which reveals ongoing failure in reducing the road toll.
AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley said: “This analysis is a damning indictment of those who have been responsible for the Strategy’s implementation since 2011. These reports should serve as a wake-up call to governments – their disjointed and disorganised approach to road safety is failing badly.
“Only 27 per cent of KPIs are likely to be met – and almost a quarter still aren’t even being measured. Clearly, the strategy hasn’t been supported by the investment, leadership and accountability needed to meet its targets.
“The Strategy’s failure must not create a perception that road safety problems can’t be solved. The Inquiry into the National Road Safety Strategy found that Australia needs – and can develop – a new approach. But almost a year since the Inquiry released its report, the Federal Government has yet to provide a meaningful response.
“When it meets this Friday in Adelaide, the Transport and Infrastructure Council must recognise the social and economic impact this failure is having on Australia.
“The Commonwealth and COAG must give the new Office of Road Safety a clear and meaningful role – with substantial resourcing. They must also develop a new National Road Safety Strategy for the next decade – one backed by real investment, leadership and accountability.
“Australia can’t afford another lost decade in road safety.”
NRSS HIGH LEVEL OUTCOMES
