This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Australia’s road toll has fallen to its lowest in four years, with 78 fewer deaths in 2018 than the previous year.

There were 1,146 deaths on the nation’s roads in the 12 months to December, a 6.4% drop from 2017, when 1,224 were killed.

That’s the lowest total since 2014, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

Despite the improvement, the acting prime minister, Michael McCormack, said there needed to be a focus on ways to drive the toll down further.

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“One road death or accident is one too many and the release of these recent national road death figures should serve as a reminder to all road users and stakeholders, including all governments, to be ever-vigilant and work harder to achieve improvements,” McCormack said.

“The ultimate safety outcome we are all striving for is a target of zero road deaths and serious injuries in Australia.”

The analysis showed Victoria experienced a 17.4% drop, with 259 deaths in 2017 and 214 in 2018. There was a 19% fall in fatalities in South Australia, where 100 people died in 2017 and 81 in 2018. New South Wales reported a 9% decline, with 389 killed in 2017 compared with 354 in 2018.

Tasmania had a 2.9% drop and Western Australia a 0.6% fall, while Queensland had the same number as the previous year. The Northern Territory and ACT recorded increases.

McCormack, also the infrastructure minister, noted the broader impact of road accidents on victims’ families and emergency service workers.

He urged people to take responsibility for their actions on the roads to help prevent deaths.

“While we have seen some improvement on the number of road deaths in 2018, we can do even better by ensuring basic safety steps are followed,” the Nationals leader said.