Australia is in the grip of a mounting road safety crisis, with the national road toll climbing at an alarming rate and the annual cost of road trauma surging to $30 billion. As National Road Safety Week launches across the country, one of the nation’s most prominent safety advocates is calling for immediate and decisive action.
Peter Frazer OAM, founder of National Road Safety Week and President of the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, has sounded the alarm, urging a cultural and policy shift to reverse what he calls a "true epidemic" on Australian roads.
Frazer, whose daughter was tragically killed by a distracted truck driver, is demanding that all levels of government treat road trauma as the urgent national emergency it is. “We’ve reached a tipping point,” he told Yahoo News Australia. “We need to stop sugar-coating the reality. This is costing us lives — and $30 billion every year.”
Frazer said part of the problem lies in complacency. “We must rethink how we see enforcement, speeding, distraction and road accountability. We’ve lost the ‘anywhere, anytime’ approach to road compliance, and the results are fatal.”
He highlighted the lack of widespread average speed camera use — a proven life-saving measure — as a missed opportunity. “In NSW, we’ve been pushing for 13 years to get average speed cameras used for all vehicles, not just trucks. Only now are they starting a trial. That’s too slow.”
National Road Safety Week, which began on Monday, serves as a reminder of the human cost behind the statistics — a chance for Australians to reflect and recommit to safer roads. This year, the focus is on education, awareness, and enforcement, with Frazer stating that “flipping the current approach on its head” is essential.
“Governments need to stop being apologetic about enforcement,” Frazer said. “It’s not about revenue-raising; it’s about saving lives. If we can prevent families from suffering the trauma I went through, then we must act — now.”
With the road toll continuing to rise and billions being lost annually in health care, emergency response, and insurance costs, the time for talk is over. As National Road Safety Week continues, the message is clear: every driver has a role to play, and governments must lead the charge.
