Why Australia's road toll is rising, according to industry experts
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Distracted driving and drug influence are major contributors to Australia’s growing road toll, according to experts.
Last year, Australia's road toll climbed to 1300 deaths – the highest it's been since 2012 – but why are there more fatal crashes on local roads if car-safety technology has vastly improved?
According to the Royal Automobile Association (RAA) Senior Media Advisor Denam Moore, motorists are less focused on driving than ever before – thanks to devices like smartphones – and drivers are not heeding warnings about driving under the influence.
"Road deaths and serious injuries continue to occur at an alarming rate, with Australia recording a national increase in lives lost for the fourth consecutive year for the first time since the 1960s," Moore told Drive.
"Distraction, excessive speed, not wearing a seatbelt and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol continue to be leading causes of road trauma."
MORE: Australian road toll hits 12-year high, despite safer cars coming to market
South Australia was one of only two states (the other being Tasmania) to reduce its roll toll in 2024 compared to the year prior, down 22 per cent to 91.
Meanwhile, all other states had more road fatalities in 2024, with New South Wales at the forefront on 340 incidents and the Australia Capital Territory notching the highest year-on-year change of 175 per cent to 11.
As part of the National Road Safety Strategy, an aim to reduce the road toll by at least 50 per cent has been put in place with a deadline of 2030.
The Safe System Approach outlines four key areas for improvement – people are fallible, humans are fragile, road safety is a shared responsibility, and build a safe and forgiving road system – which Moore said needs renewed attention to reduce the road toll.
MORE: Road safety crisis prompts fresh calls for funding changes
"The Safe Systems approach to road safety relies on us having safe road infrastructure, safe vehicles, safe speeds and safe road user behaviour," Moore said.
"We need ongoing focus and investment across all of these areas.
"Most importantly, we all need to take personal responsibility for the way we drive and share the road with others.
"We should ensure we're driving the safest car we can afford, adhering to speed limits, avoiding distractions and driving to the conditions."
Meanwhile, Australian Automobile Association (AAA) Managing Director Michael Bradley called for more action in assessing road quality and identifying problem areas.
"It is clear current road safety approaches are inadequate and that more action is required to save lives," Bradley said.
"We must use data and evidence about crashes, the state of our roads and the effectiveness of police traffic enforcement to establish what is going wrong on our roads and create more effective interventions.''
MORE: $81 million Road Safety Program announced for New South Wales
The motoring body also believes that state and territory road funding should be tied to road safety assessment, and that "this transparency will save lives, while also showing Australians whether politicians are spending their taxes to save lives rather than winning votes in marginal electorates", the AAA said in a release.
"This critical data must be embedded into the road funding allocation process so investment can be prioritised to our most dangerous roads," Bradley said.
"Australia's rising road toll underscores the importance of using road condition data to direct road funding, and to prevent the politicisation of scarce public funds.''
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