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Road Toll Down But Australia Behind On 2020 Target: AAA

An Australian Automobile Association (AAA) report released this week shows the national road toll is down overall for the twelve months to the end of June. A total of 1261 people lost their lives on Australian roads in the 2012/13 financial y


An Australian Automobile Association (AAA) report released this week shows the national road toll is down overall for the twelve months to the end of June.

A total of 1261 people lost their lives on Australian roads in the 2012/13 financial year, compared with 1175 for the year ending June 30, 2014.

AAA Executive Director Andrew McKellar cautioned the Federal and state governments not to lose sight of the road toll.

“The reduction in road deaths is an encouraging development and hopefully it marks the start of a longer-term trend,” Mr McKellar said.

“Although we welcome the improvement in these figures, there is a strong need to sustain this effort if we are to meet our target of reducing deaths and serious injuries by 30 percent by 2020.”

If current trends continue, Australia’s road toll in 2020 could be as high as 1150 - 152 more than the target of 998.

Mr McKellar said “urgent, coordinated action” is required to get Australia back on-track to meet the 2020 goal, with a greater investment from governments at all levels.

For the 2014 calendar year, the figures show a decrease for the June quarter over the March quarter, but most states have higher road tolls than last year.

Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Western Australia and even New Zealand have all seen increases in the road toll in 2014 compared to the same time last year.

South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland are the only states bucking the trend, with a lower road toll to date in 2014 compared with the same time in 2013. 

MORE: Road Toll News | AAA News

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