The Road Safety Commission has reported that this year the road toll in Western Australia is the worst in 18 years.
Since 1970, Western Australia’s road fatalities have dropped from 35.4 people in every 100,000, to 6.3 in 2024.
This change can be attributed to the introduction of seatbelts, redlight and speed cameras and random breath testing, as well as safer cars, 40km/h school zones, behaviour change campaigns and a number of other road safety programs.
In 2024 there were 95 fatalities on WA roads across the whole year and we are only just over half way through 2025 and there have been 112 fatalities already.
Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said sadly, there have been a number of fatalities on our roads in the past seven days and his thoughts go out to their families and the first responders who attended those tragic scenes.
“While I can’t speak specifically to the recent cases currently under police investigation, what we do know is that the fatal five; speed, seatbelts, fatigue, alcohol and drugs and distraction, remain overrepresented in the road toll.
“There are over 2.1 million licenced drivers on our roads and 2.1 million answers to the question of why this year’s year-to-date road toll is the worst in 18 years,” said Mr Warner.
Not all road fatalities reported in police media statements are automatically added to the road toll. Fatalities that are not included in the road toll may include, medical episodes, mental health related deaths, deaths on private roads (roads not accessible to the public) and in some cases criminal activity.
Warner said there are more than 2.1 million licenced drivers on WA roads and therefore 2.1 million answers to the question of why this year’s year-to-date road toll is the worst in 18 years.
“We need drivers to connect with the reality that their choices behind the wheel matter, that the difference between a near-miss and a fatal crash might come down to one of a million small choices they make every day.
“Too many people rationalise that a little bit of rule breaking, a little bit of risk taking is okay, but if enough people make safer choices on the road more often, we can shift the dial,” he said.
