The number of road deaths fell considerably in several states in 2018, with Victoria and South Australia posting record low tolls.

Provisional figures show Victoria recorded 214 deaths, compared with 259 in 2017 and the previous record low of 243 in 2013.

Across South Australia last year 80 people lost their lives, compared with 100 in 2017. Its previous record low was 86 in 2016.

Deaths in NSW were down nearly 10% at 352, compared with 386 in 2017, while Queensland recorded its third-lowest figure, 246 deaths. The NSW figures are yet to be finalised for the year.

Victoria’s head of road policing operations, Supt John Fitzpatrick, said the figures were encouraging, but there were still too many fatalities on Victorian roads.

“The fact that there were 45 fewer lives lost in 2018 will be of no comfort to those who are mourning someone who was precious to them,” Fitzpatrick said on Tuesday. “One life lost is one too many.”

There was a reduction of almost a third in lives lost on Victorian country roads, but a 26.7% rise in the number of pedestrian fatalities. Men accounted for the majority of lives lost, 155, compared with 59 women. The 25- to 29-year-old age bracket experienced the biggest increase in lives lost, with 15.8% more killed than in 2017.

Police increased the number of drug tests by 50%, which means they will do 50,000 more in this financial year compared with the previous one.

Queenslands Road Policing Command assistant commissioner, Mike Keating, said an “alarming trend” had emerged with 27% of fatalities in that state involving people not wearing seatbelts. Queensland police issued 8,700 infringements over the year for people not wearing seatbelts, he said.

He said people were putting themselves at risk “wilfully and deliberately”.

“The message is very clear, if you wear your seatbelt, you have a much greater probability of surviving a crash.

“I think if people don’t wear their seatbelt, that’s a deliberate act. It is completely illogical, why wouldn’t you wear it? We know it saves lives and prevents harm and serious injury.”

He said police had conducted 67,000 random breath tests throughout the year, catching 16,000 drink drivers at a detection ratio of one in 160 tests.

A further 67,000 “targeted” drug tests had been performed, with 14,000 people recording a positive reading, roughly one in four.

“Drug driving is increasing and as a community we need to focus on the future in relation to drug driving – it is one of the big challenges of the future.”

South Australia’s assistant commissioner, Paul Dickson, said the fall in that state could be attributed to different strategies put in place by police and other agencies.

“There’s no silver bullet here,” he said. “But enforcement is obviously from our position a strong factor.”

Dickson said there was no reason to be complacent heading into 2019. “I don’t think we can ever say we’re all safe on the roads because unfortunately people make bad decisions,” he said.

“And whenever someone makes a bad decision there’s a high risk that we’ll either have a fatality or a serious injury.”

The SA opposition has questioned the government’s decision to axe the Motor Accident Commission, which had a strong track record of delivering effective road safety campaigns.

“The record low result is welcome news for South Australians, however there is much more work to do,” the opposition police spokeswoman, Katrine Hildyard, said.

The state government said closing down the commission would save up to $3m a year and was an inevitable consequence of the decision to privatise its insurance arm in 2014.

Other agencies are expected to pick up its work and the government has said the budget for road safety advertising would be maintained.

Tasmania recorded 33 fatalities in 2018, one down on last year’s toll.