Pacific Highway: 10,000 crashes in 10 years

Crashes, deaths and injuries on the Pacific Highway cost the community $191 million between 2000 and 2002 as part of an annual national road trauma bill of $15 billion.
An audit released today by NRMA Motoring & Services found
that there were 10,182 crashes on the Pacific Highway in the past
10 years between Hexham and the Queensland border.
Attending a summit in Coffs Harbour on future funding options
for the Highway, NRMA President Ross Turnbull said the road was
safer but many critical upgrades remained on the drawing board.
Reduced crash and casualty rates for the highway since 1995
prove that the Pacific Highway Upgrade Program has delivered many
benefits to motorists, Mr Turnbull said.
In the past eight years the percentage of four-lane sections
on the Pacific Highway has risen to 32 per cent - a 23 per cent
increase.
But using existing spending as a guide, the upgrade of the
Pacific Highway will not be completed for up to 17 years. Thats a
disgrace.
Mr Turnbull said 124 people had died on the Pacific Highway
in 2,713 crashes between 2000 and 2002, injuring more than 1,000
motorists, passengers and pedestrians.
When people are brutally murdered in their homes the
community is outraged yet more than 40 people have been violently
killed on the highway so far this year and the community seems
resigned to that fact, Mr Turnbull said.
NRMA is working to change community attitudes so that
families dont have to put up with road tragedies as a fact of life.
Community acceptance of this multi-billion dollar problem is no
longer acceptable.
NRMAs survey examined 643 kilometres of the Pacific Highway
in both directions. Key findings include:
Since 1995, the percentage of highway with divided carriageway
has increased from nine per cent to 32 per cent.From 1995, crash rates decreased from 40.30 per 100MVKT
(crashes per 100 million vehicle kilometres of travel) to 26.91 per
100MVKTIn the same period, casualty rates decreased from 31.84 per
100MVKT to 19.19 per 100MVKTFatality rates decreased from 1.60 per 100MVKT to 1.23 per
100MVKT