Safety on New England Highway improves

The safety performance of the New England Highway continues to improve, with crash rates down 11 per cent and casualty rates down six per cent since 1996.
National Roads and Motorists' Association Limited (NRMA)
Regional Business Manager, Mr Michael Wynne, said NRMA's audit of
the New England Highway was a valuable tool to assess and benchmark
the road's safety and condition.Mr Wynne said the Federal Government should continue its efforts
to make the New England Highway safer by building a link from the
F3 Freeway at Seahampton to the highway at Branxton, easing
pressure on the southern section of the road."The New England Highway has become steadily safer in the last
12 years, with a 37 per cent reduction in the crash rate and a
virtual halving of the casualty rate since 1990," Mr Wynne
said."NRMA's audit, undertaken in July, confirms that improvements
made to the New England Highway since 1996 continue to make a real
difference to the safety and condition of the road."This is good news for the commercial road users and local
motorists who use the New England Highway everyday, as well as
recreational traffic driving on the road during holiday
periods."The audit assessed the New England Highway between Hexham and
the Queensland border using up to 53 criteria to examine
carriageways, traffic volumes, crash and casualty rates, signage,
lane widths and the frequency of resting spots.Mr Wynne said the audit had found a range of infrastructure
improvements to the road since 1996."Recent improvements include 22 fewer curves, additional
overtaking lanes and improvements to the width and condition of
roadside shoulders," Mr Wynne said.The route average for crashes on the New England Highway was
26.98 for every 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled (100mVKT),
while the route average for casualties was 19.01 per 100mVKT.Mr Wynne said the best performing section of the highway was the
45 kilometre section between Singleton and Muswellbrook, with crash
and casualty rates 45 per cent and 35 per cent below the route
average respectively."Using the same criteria, the worst performing section of the
New England Highway was the 12.8 kilometre stretch from Hexham to
Maitland - with crash and casualty rates both 79 per cent above the
route average," Mr Wynne said."Common crash types in this area include rear-end crashes,
intersection crashes and pedestrian-related crashes."To ease pressure on the route from Hexham to Singleton, the
Federal Government should commit to the construction of a link from
the F3 freeway at Seahampton to the New England Highway at
Branxton."The Seahampton-Branxton link would take through-traffic away
from the southern section of the New England Highway and provide an
important cross-regional link. This is one of the key priorities
for the Hunter region."NRMA's audit of the Newell Highway is currently being
completed.