2007 Road Toll statistics

[Pedro]

National annual road toll falls
Wednesday Jan 2 06:57 AEDT

Australia's overall national road toll has continued to fall - except in the bush.More than 1,500 Australians died on the nation's roads in 2007, the highest total coming from NSW where the 445 deaths were the least since World War II

In contrast, Queensland's death toll of 360, the second-highest in the country, was the state's worst in a decade.

The total also dropped in Victoria where 333 died on state roads, including 13 in the final 10 days of the year

Western Australia recorded an increase of some 14 per cent in road deaths with 235 against 200 for 2006, with almost all the additional deaths coming outside of Perth.
"In 2006, there were 85 deaths on metropolitan areas and 115 in the country," a WA Police spokesman said.
"In 2007, there were 88 metropolitan deaths and 147 country deaths, up by 32."

A similar trend occurred in the Northern Territory where the road toll was up almost 25 per cent, at 57.

In South Australia the total rose by only eight to 125, but the rural toll increased by 12 per cent.

The ACT toll rose by 14, up one from the previous year.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma said his state's road toll represented the best result, per capita, since 1908, the year that records began.
"This is the fifth consecutive year the road toll has reduced despite a steady increase in traffic on our roads," Mr Iemma said.
"Motorists deserve credit for heeding the road safety messages."
The NSW toll is also a vast reduction on the state's peak of 1,384 road deaths in 1978.

In Victoria, motorists can expect a drink-driving blitz in 2008 following a dramatic increase in the number of fatalities involving victims who were driving under the influence.
Of those killed on the state's roads in 2007, 54 were drink drivers - up from 32 in 2006.
"This is a massive increase - 16 per cent of all fatalities on our roads are drink drivers," Victoria Roads Minister Tim Pallas said.
Victoria recorded its second lowest road toll on record.

Motoring groups said police and governments still had work to do in getting the message through to drivers on country roads where speed limits are generally higher than in cities and roadside obstacles create additional risks.