Australian road deaths hit 5-year high

CANBERRA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Australian road deaths hit a five-year high in 2023, the nation's peak automotive body has said.

According to data released by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) on Monday, there have been 1,253 deaths on Australian roads in 2023 - an increase of 6 percent from 2022.

It marks the highest road toll in Australia in a 12-month span since 1,270 people were killed in the 12 months to the end of March 2018.

Michael Bradley, managing director of the AAA, used the release of the statistics to call for federal, state and territory governments to improve data transparency on road deaths.

"Month after month, road deaths keep rising, and we lack the information needed to identify the reasons for this deadly trend and to develop the most effective measures for reducing crashes," he told Guardian Australia, the online Australian edition of the British daily The Guardian.

"The states and territories have crucial data on the quality of Australian roads, the causes of crashes, and law enforcement patterns - but they are not sharing this information."

In South Australia (SA), the road toll increased by 61 percent from 70 deaths in 2022 to 113 deaths so far in 2023, the AAA said - the biggest rise of any state or territory.

New South Wales and Victoria, Australia's two largest states, recorded increases of 23.7 and 14.5 percent, respectively, while every other state and territory recorded reductions in road deaths.

The biggest fall was in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), where the figure fell from 20 deaths in 2022 to only three in 2023.