Australia’s road death toll highest in five years

The New South Wales government is being urged to act on road safety after the state recorded a sharp increase in deaths.

Transcript

00:00 9 people have died in road fatalities since Friday.

00:06 That brings the toll so far in 2023 to 349.

00:12 To understand that, it is about a 25% increase compared to the same period a year earlier,

00:18 but that was a year impacted by COVID.

00:19 If you compare it to pre-COVID years, it's slightly higher than some pre-COVID years

00:24 behind the record set in 2017 of 389.

00:29 Drivers are still worried about it.

00:30 They say there's two weeks left of this year and traditionally going into the holiday season,

00:35 there is a bump sadly in road fatalities.

00:38 The government is worried that the trend will continue going into the holiday season.

00:42 They say most of the accidents are being caused by drivers flouting bending and breaking traditional

00:47 road rules like speeding.

00:49 It's hoping a policy introduced earlier this year will help incentivize drivers to drive

00:55 safe throughout the period.

00:56 Now drivers who have a clean driving record for the year period ending in January 17 could

01:02 get one of their demerit points back.

01:04 They could get a demerit point scrubbed.

01:06 Here's what the transport, sorry, here's what the roads minister, John Graham, had to say

01:10 about it earlier.

01:11 We are seeing in each of the jurisdictions a rising road toll after COVID.

01:17 That is the reality that each of the states are dealing with.

01:20 A big reminder to 1.3 million drivers who are eligible to earn a point back if they

01:27 continue their good behavior, good behavior that's continued from January 17 this year.

01:33 If they keep that effort up to January 17 next year, they'll earn a point back as we

01:37 trial both the carrot and the stick.

01:42 Now 1.7 million people were originally eligible to get that demerit point back.

01:48 But since it was announced, that policy was announced, 400,000 people have incurred some

01:53 kind of infringement that doesn't make them eligible anymore.

01:56 Still it leaves 1.3 million people with the prospect of getting a demerit point back and

02:01 the government hoping they'll be encouraged by that to drive safely throughout the holiday

02:05 season.

02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]