Roads Minister Melinda Pavey admits she is deeply saddened by the rising road toll in south-west NSW, and has committed an all out effort to reduce the carnage on rural roads.
There has been a 15 per cent jump in road fatalities in south-west NSW, the largest increase anywhere in NSW, on statistics from last year to November 20 this year.
Tragically another two people were killed in an accident near Condobolin on the Gipps Highway on Monday, after a car and truck collided. That brought the NSW road toll to 344, compared to 340 for the same period last year.
There have been 39 road fatalities on south-west NSW roads so far this year, compared 24 for the same period last year.
Mrs Pavey has joined forces with her department with police in a strikeforce to help contain the toll. A lot of accidents have been put down to fatigue.. According to a Roads briefing on the issue: “the causes of these crashes is still being investigated. However 12 are believed to have fatigue as a contributing factor while at least two had drink driving as a contributing factor.”
Mrs Pavey said: “Country people make up a third of our population and represent two thirds of our road toll. Speeding, drink or drug driving, not wearing a seat belt or proper helmet, driving fatigued or being distracted by a mobile phone are all factors which can lead to serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads.”
In an interview with The Land, Mrs Pavey said she was very concerned by the rising road toll in south-west NSW and her department was working hard to find out the causes.
The NSW Government has pledged $7.5m to upgrade South West Region roads, including to sections of the Newell, Olympic, Sturt and Hume highways.