The rising number of road fatalities has led leading road safety researchers to urge Australian state and territory governments to lower default speed limits.
The latest figures show there were 124 deaths last month nationally, raising this year’s toll to 761, a number which is up by 64 from the previous year.
Over 100 academics, led by Dr. Jennifer Kent of the University of Sydney, have called for a reduction in default local speed limits to 30-40 kilometres per hour, aligning with global standards.
New research has shown that lowering speed limits reduced road casualties by 32 per cent in three months.
Ahead of an upcoming road safety summit, Western Australia is also considering reducing rural speed limits from 110 to 100 kilometres per hour, amid a climbing road toll, with 71 of this year’s 119 deaths occurring on regional roads.