WA roads reach highest fatality rates in a decade

ABC NEWS (Australia)

WA's road toll has reached its highest year-to-date figure in a decade, with five people killed in 24 hours this week. As the school holidays begin, authorities are urging all road users to take care, with police unapologetic about enforcing the law.

Transcript

00:00A confronting scene.

00:04This 40-year-old driver killed when his car collided with a truck towing three trailers.

00:10His death, one of five, on WA's roads over 24 hours.

00:15There's five people that won't be at Christmas this year

00:18and five doors that had to be knocked on by our officers in the WA police force

00:22to make those absolutely tragic notifications.

00:27On Thursday afternoon, a 70-year-old man died in the south-west

00:31when his motorcycle collided with a tow truck.

00:34The next morning, it was the 40-year-old man in Perth's outer north.

00:38Half an hour later, a 51-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed by a car in Mundaring.

00:44Four hours later, a man died when his four-wheel drive struck a tree in Serpentine.

00:50Another four hours later, and it was a 64-year-old woman,

00:54a passenger in a single-vehicle crash in Alfred Cove.

00:57We're halfway through the year. We're over a hundred deaths.

01:02And that's the highest in almost a decade.

01:05The number of road safety deaths so far this year is the highest in at least a decade,

01:11sitting at 103 compared to 93 this time last year.

01:15When taking into account population growth, the Road Safety Commissioner says over the past ten or so years,

01:22the annual road toll in every jurisdiction in Australia has remained relatively steady.

01:28The road toll's plateaued. It's flattened.

01:31We're keeping a lid on things, but we're not shifting it down.

01:34And there aren't big levers left.

01:37Authorities hopeful new cameras capturing a range of illegal activity will help turn the tide when fines,

01:45rather than warnings, are issued later this year.

01:48When we move into enforcement mode with these new cameras in a couple of months,

01:52we're expecting a big shift in behaviour.

01:54We don't want the money.

01:56We want people to change their behaviour and save lives.

01:59A wake-up call for anyone getting behind the wheel.

02:07What is theryяч rigtig?

02:08How do you know about the

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