RAC General Manager Corporate Affairs, Will Golsby, said RAC is also calling on the other parties to commit to addressing the road safety problem in regional WA.
“Western Australia has a serious road safety problem, and the situation is worse for those living in the regions. Approximately 62 per cent of WA road deaths occur in regional WA, despite only 20 per cent of people living there,” Mr Golsby said.
“RAC has continually called for a regional road safety strategy to save more lives and stop serious injuries on our roads.
“This year has been particularly bad for road fatalities, with 186 lives lost to date. This is 29 more deaths than the same day last year, and 17 more than the five year average. This is a sobering result for our State and we can and need to do better.
“This higher road toll is largely attributable to an increase in deaths on regional roads. Of the 186 fatalities, 116 occurred in regional areas.
“So far this year, the Wheatbelt, Great Southern and South West have all performed poorly, and the Wheatbelt’s fatality rate remains five times higher than the State rate.
“Last year, 40 per cent of respondents to RAC’s Wheatbelt Community Attitudes Survey said they don’t think enough is being done by authorities to deter drink-drivers.
“With more than $141 million unspent in the Road Trauma Trust Account at the end of last financial year, RAC has been calling on the State Government and the Opposition to take urgent action by outlining how and when they will allocate this funding towards proven life-saving measures, such as point-to-point speed cameras and increasing the police presence on our roads.
“Road fatalities in regional WA remain unacceptably high, and more needs to be done to address this problem.”
RAC has previously welcomed the State Government introducing a Wheatbelt Road Safety Review and increased speed camera hours on regional roads.
