The year just started and already, six lives have been lost due to deadly road crashes across WA, prompting insurer RAC to call on motorists to stay alert on WA roads.
Will Golsby, RAC general manager of corporate affairs, said that despite the drop in the number of deaths on roads in 2017, the state still had one of the worst fatality rates across the nation.
“Tragically, 158 people were killed on WA roads in 2017, with far more seriously injured,” Golsby told
The Advocate. “WA continues to lag behind leading states like New South Wales and Victoria.”
Golsby said WA would record a fatality rate of roughly six deaths per 100,000 people in WA for 2017, while Victoria would see a rate of around four deaths per 100,000 people – 33% less than WA's.
“If WA matched Victoria’s 2017 road fatality rate, more than 50 people would still be alive today,” Golsby told the publication. “Fatalities in regional WA remain unacceptably high, with road users being five times more likely to be killed on regional roads last year. Less than 20% of the state’s population resides in regional communities, yet in 2017, these areas experienced more than half of all road fatalities.”
Golsby urged motorists to help bring down the death toll on WA roads for the sake of family, friends, and the community.
“Every life lost or serious injury on WA roads is one too many and each has a lasting ripple effect in the community,” Golsby told
The Advocate. “As a state, we need to see through the statistics and do everything we can to help bring WA’s road fatality and serious injury rate down.”
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