Latest news with #roadSafetyAdvocates
ABC News
6 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
North West Coastal Highway's 'notorious' Roebourne to Karratha section claims another two lives
Police, road safety advocates and grieving family members are calling for a "notorious" stretch of highway in Western Australia's north-west to be upgraded. Two people were killed in a head-on collision outside Roebourne, 1,500 kilometres north-east of Perth, last Friday. The crash occurred on the North West Coastal Highway which links Geraldton to Port Hedland and is frequently used by tourists, truck drivers and mining companies. It comes two months after a pair of teenagers, 17 and 16, died in a crash while riding a motorbike on the same route. Karratha Police Senior Sergeant Uwais Cuff said the section between Roebourne and Karratha was particularly dangerous. "You get a lot of shift workers knocking off duty and that road becomes particular busy." Senior Sergeant Cuff said works to widen the road and turn it into a double-carriageway had improved safety in recent years. But road trains and seasonal influxes of grey nomad caravanners remained challenging. "We're throwing everything at it," he said. "[Officers] will be out in force with their radars monitoring speed and fatigue, any drug and alcohol driving as well." The 29-year-old driver of a Toyota Prado, Koda Tahi Tahi, and a 21-year-old man died at the scene of last Friday's crash. Police said they were continuing to investigate the incident. Four other female passengers in the Prado were injured, with a 19 and 24-year-old flown to Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition. The daughters and niece of journalist and Roebourne resident Tangiora Hinaki were involved in the crash. The driver of the Prado was Ms Hinaki's niece and her daughter, Manawa, was a passenger. She is in hospital in a stable condition and is expected to recover from her injuries. Ms Hinaki described her niece as a "beautiful, community-driven, joyous young woman" who had been involved with the local school and church. She said her niece's death had a profound impact on the local community, her family and friends across Australia and overseas. "I feel grateful for my three daughters that are still here with us Earth-side, but it's still very bittersweet because our beloved Koda is not here with us," she said. "You want your children to outlive you." More than five roadside tributes are visible along the 30 kilometre stretch of the North West Coastal Highway between Karratha and Roebourne. The latest crash brings the number of road fatalities between Karratha and Roebourne to four in 2025 so far, compared with two for the entire of 2024. Truck driver Heather Jones told ABC Pilbara the stretch was "very notorious" amongst transport workers. Ms Jones, who sits on a national road safety committee, said driver education needed to be at the forefront of investment. "We don't train well in cars, motorbikes or trucks, so we need to lift the driver training," she said. "Yes, there's a cost to it in the beginning. But if we invested in the beginning we wouldn't have all the consequences and the trauma that that brings upon families. In a statement, WA Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said the commission was "saddened" to hear of the double fatality. Mr Warner said that since 2020 the WA government had invested nearly $1.3 billion towards targeted road safety programs including "record investments on upgrading and delivering new road infrastructure". The funding also included upgrades to more than 9,000km of regional roads. Main Roads WA has been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Every Aussie driver targeted in push to combat $30 billion crisis: 'True epidemic'
One of Australia's leading road safety advocates is calling for urgent action to tackle the root causes of dangerous driving, warning that without a major shift in attitudes, road deaths will continue to rise. National Road Safety Week began on Monday, serving as a powerful reminder of the devastating impact of road trauma, and a call to action for all Australians to help ensure everyone gets home safely. The campaign was founded by Peter Frazer OAM, whose daughter was killed by a distracted truck driver. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Peter stressed that this year, a cultural shift is more critical than ever. He said Australia must urgently rethink not just driver behaviour, but also its stance on enforcement, speeding, and accountability on the roads. At the same time, the financial cost of road trauma has soared to $30 billion annually — and that figure is only expected to climb. "The very first thing that we need to do is to flip everything on its head and start dealing with the reality of risk on our roads," he said. "That's the first thing. We've got to have our governments start doing much more active enforcement, both police enforcement and also automated enforcement, which we can do immediately. "Just giving the example of NSW, for 13 years we've been pushing for average speed cameras to be used, not just for heavy vehicles but for all vehicles, for light vehicles. NSW — and we congratulate it — but they're only just doing a trial. If we're trying to change behaviour, these obvious things that should be implemented immediately need to be done. "We need to go back to the concept of 'anywhere, anytime' in terms of compliance and enforcement. We're almost apologetic to the community if we're talking about trying to save people's lives and prevent serious injuries. "We've got to have our governments come on board and say, yeah, this is quite a serious circumstance." Speeding remains one of the most dangerous and widespread behaviours on Australian roads, including in school zones where children are at serious risk. Peter stressed that tackling speed alone could dramatically reduce the road toll, noting it's linked to 40 per cent of all fatalities. A focused, year-long effort to reduce speeding, he said, could save around 550 lives. Common myth about Aussie road deaths exposed Older drivers 'exposed' on Aussie roads after major shift Aussie drivers accused of 'selfish' road act amid widespread trend Peter said that since Covid, there's been a noticeable increase in dangerous and erratic driving across Australia. Over the past four years, the national road toll has risen from around 1,140 to more than 1,300 deaths annually. He described it as a 'true epidemic' — one he believes is preventable, saying 'we've got the vaccines' to stop it. "We need to recognise, back in 2021, the Commonwealth and state governments decided that we were going to have another National Road Safety Strategy," he said. "[That] we were going to reduce the number of people killed by 2030 by 50 per cent, and that would reduce it from those original 2021 numbers down to 570. "And right now, if we were on target in 2024, there would have been no more than 900 people killed on Australia's roads. We're almost at 50 per cent above our own target. "We've got to also recognise — it costs $30 billion in road trauma in Australia every year. Can you imagine the savings to the national economy if we reduced the number of people killed by that 50 per cent? But [we're] headed in the wrong direction — and we have been for the last four years." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
