Fed: No significant fall in road deaths - figures show

AAP General News (Australia)
12-18-2001
Fed: No significant fall in road deaths - figures show

CANBERRA, Dec 18 AAP - The federal government today urged holidaymakers to take extra
care during the Christmas holiday period given only a slight decrease in road deaths since
1997.

Official figures today showed between January and November this year 1,607 people died
on Australian roads, which is a decrease from 1,653 from 2000. But 2000 was a big year
for deaths on roads.

"There has been no significant decrease in Australia-wide road fatalities since 1997,"

parliamentary secretary for transport Ron Boswell said.

The national road toll for November 2001 was 153, a 1.9 per cent fall from the previous
year, the latest bulletin from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) showed.

The year-to-date road toll to the end of November 2001 was 1,607, which was a 2.8 per
cent decrease from the same time in 2000.

Last year 76 people died on roads during Christmas-New Year, the highest since 1997
when 82 people died.

But ATSB figures show 161 deaths in November 1997 and 153 in November 2001.

"These statistics are a sobering reminder of the loss of life on our roads, which has
become all too familiar over the holiday period," Senator Boswell said.

People must take simple precautions such as taking regular breaks and wearing seatbelts
and not drink and drive, he said.

"It is the responsibility of all of us to use the road with caution and make sure we're
not responsible for further fatalities and do not become a Christmas fatality statistic."

AAP lm/daw/mg

KEYWORD: TOLL BOSWELL

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