00:02Australia's road toll peaked in the 1970s but then was in steady decline for 40 years
00:08thanks to the introduction of laws around seatbelts and drink driving and investment
00:13in public awareness campaigns. However, that all changed in 2020 when suddenly the number
00:18of Australians dying on the roads started to increase. Now that trend has continued
00:23for five years and already this year more than 1,300 people have been killed which is
00:28already exceeding the total for last year. Some of the biggest increases in fatalities have been
00:33among pedestrians and cyclists being struck by cars which experts say is likely linked to the
00:39fact that the average Australian car is getting larger and heavier every year due to the popularity
00:44of those very large American and Chinese SUVs and youths. So this latest data has triggered calls
00:52for some sort of regulation or financial incentives to try and reduce the size of vehicles that are
00:58being purchased by Australians. The Australian Automobile Association is also calling for
01:03greater transparency and accountability around how the states and territories are spending the
01:08billions of dollars in road safety funding that is being distributed by the Commonwealth every year.
01:13Now the federal agencies that oversee those national road toll targets declined to do an interview and
01:19have not responded to specific questions put by the ABC. However, they have in a statement outlined
01:24the amount of money that is being invested in improving road infrastructure and highlighted the fact
01:28they're trying to oversee the importation of more safer high-tech vehicles into the country.
01:34Road safety advocates and researchers say it's easy to get distracted treating this road toll as a
01:39bit of a numbers game when in fact this means that more Australians are being killed every year and
01:45they say that this latest data should be a wake-up call to all Australians especially in the lead up
01:50to the summer holidays
01:51when more and more people will be taking to the roads.
