Record regional road toll hits 1,000 due to complacency, report finds
A record 1,000 lives were lost on rural and regional roads last year. A new report says complacency and a flagrant approach to road rules are the causes.
A record regional road toll reached 1,000 in 2025, according to a report, with non-capital city roads accounting for nearly 70% of the fatalities. The Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) attributes this alarming increase to driver complacency on familiar rural roads. Peter Kalbfell, a quadriplegic survivor of a crash outside of Alice Springs, acknowledges that driving while fatigued contributed to his accident, which he felt was safe due to the road's familiarity.
The ARSF suggests that drivers must take greater responsibility for their safety, and Professor Ioni Lewis highlights the need for safety campaigns to be tailored to regional audiences. Detective Senior Sergeant Wade Lee, who has responded to numerous crashes in Wide Bay, stresses the importance of changing driver behavior to prevent these tragic incidents.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
