Road fatalities have soared in the past year, with deaths among motorcyclists rising seven percent. The latest figures, which cover the 12 months to 31 March, record 1204 deaths of drivers, riders, passengers and pedestrians on Australian roads, a 5.9 percent increase and higher than pre-pandemic rates.

Figures vary state by state, with the most alarming increases being in the ACT (up 70 percent) Western Australia (16.9 percent), Victoria (9.7 percent), South Australia (9.4 percent) and Tasmania (9.1 percent). Victoria, Australia’s second most populated state, had a shocker of a start to 2023, with fatalities in the first six days the highest since 2000.

However, NSW death rates remained static while the Northern Territory recorded a 14 percent reduction, but still has the nation’s highest per capita rate of road deaths.

The sudden nationwide spike has experts worrying about Australia meeting targets set in 2021 by the National Road Safety Strategy. It set out plans to half deaths by 2030 and totally eliminate fatalities among children aged seven years and younger.

Road safety campaigners, including major motoring associations, claim the national road toll is now 19 percent above the level needed to meet the 2030 deadline. This is despite an increasing range of vehicles, including motorcycles, being sold with ever higher levels of user aids and automated safety systems.

The Australian Automobile Association (which includes state motoring groups) claims governments are “unable or unwilling to get to the heart of the problem”.

“There is still no national data on crash causes, serious injuries, road quality, or details on the people and vehicles involved,” says AAA managing director Michael Bradley. “This means we still cannot measure national serious injuries. Nor do we know incidences of deaths in city CBD areas, or on national highways and high-speed roads that cover 80 percent of travel across the transport network.”

The death rate is much higher in the country than in cities, with road users in rural areas five times more likely to die in a crash. As well as demanding more detailed crash data transparency, the AAA wants much more than the present 54 percent of the fuel excise re-invested in road transport projects.

Rider fatalities
Testing for tiredness

A Monash University team is developing a blood test that measures whether a driver or motorcycle rider who has caused an accident was impaired by lack of sleep. It says the test could be available within two years, making it easier to legislate against drowsy drivers, which research says is as dangerous as drink-driving.

The team’s early research in 2021 found drivers with only three hours sleep are 10 times more likely to be involved in a crash. The May 2021 trial, developed in conjunction with the Victorian Government, Road Safety Victoria and Victorian Police, was to accurately predict the level of sleep loss associated with driving impairment and to also ensure that the technology could identify those who were well rested and those who were fatigued.

Led by Associate Professor Clare Anderson, the study involved 43 trial participants, with an average age of 25. They were kept awake for up to 32 hours before conducting a two-hour drive on a controlled track, supervised by an instructor in a dual controlled vehicle. Participants also undertook three additional tests, with three hours, five hours and eight hours sleep in a 24-hour period. Her team has identified five biomarkers in blood that can detect whether somebody has been awake for 24 hours or more with greater than 99 percent accuracy.

HAMISH COOPER