Accident prevention on agenda
ROAD SAFETY
The State Government will bring together transport experts, stakeholders, and industry leaders in the coming weeks for a road safety roundtable after a tragic 12 months on Queensland roads including those around the Douglas Shire.
Just weeks ago two people were killed after the motorcycle they were travelling aboard collided with a tractor close to Daintree Village.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said he’s keen to explore all options to improve road safety with the number of lives lost on Queensland roads in 2022 far too high.
“2022 was a tragic year on Queensland roads with 299 lives lost,” Mr Bailey said.
“What’s incredibly disappointing is the fact that only a few years ago in 2019, we had the lowest toll since records began, but the pandemic has changed many things, including behaviour on our roads and the number of lives lost has been trending upwards.
“This isn’t a situation that’s unique to Queensland, right across the world we’ve seen a similar trend since the start of the pandemic.
“What I want to do is get our transport and accident experts, industry leaders, and key stakeholders all together and see how we can make Queensland roads safer, which is why I’ll be hosting a roundtable later this month.
“The roundtable will include the likes of the Queensland Police Service, RACQ, Safer Australian Roads and Highways Group, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland, and the Department of Transport and Main Roads.”
Mr Bailey said the fatal five; speeding, drink/drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, distraction and fatigue were still contributing to the majority of fatalities on Queensland roads.
“The majority of drivers are doing the right thing, using our roads in a safe way, and to those people I would like to say thank you," he said.
“But I get reports through every time a fatal crash occurs on our roads, and in far too many instances’ drivers making dangerous choices on our roads are contributing factors to fatalities.
“It’s why we’ve cracked down on the fatal five in recent months.”
Mr Bailey said the roundtable will also explore other trends which have contributed to the number of lives lost including motorcycle registrations and extreme weather.
“We saw a huge jump in motorcycle registrations, and sadly, an increase in the number of motorcycle fatalities,” he said.
“In 2019 we had 45 motorcycle deaths, compared to 74 in 2022.
“In fact, motorcycle deaths in 2022 were 43 per cent above the five-year average.
“Another big factor in the first six months of 2022 was the heavy rain and flooding we saw throughout the state where we lost 12 due to driving into floodwaters."
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