CANBERRA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Australia's peak automotive body has expressed alarm at the nation's failure to make progress on reducing the number of deaths on the road.
According to data released by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) on Monday, 1,222 people died on Australian roads in financial year 2018, only one fewer than the previous 12 months.
Of Australia's six states and two territories, only the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) remains on track to reduce road deaths by 30 percent from 2011 figures by 2020.
"The social and human cost of these deaths and injuries is immeasurable (but) the costs to the budget and the economy are well understood, which is why the AAA will continue to call on the federal government to reinstate federal oversight of road safety data collection and the strategy's implementation," AAA chief executive Michael Bradley told News Corp Australia on Monday.
"Road trauma costs the national economy more than 29 billion Australian dollars (21.4 billion U.S. dollars) annually and the observed lack of progress reflects Australia's uncoordinated and disorganised approach to road safety."
Road deaths increased by 20.7 percent in South Australia (SA), 12.9 percent in Tasmania and 8.7 percent in New South Wales (NSW).
The ACT, Victoria and Queensland all recorded improvements with the road toll falling by 36, 10.5 and 1.6 percent respectively.
"Since the road safety strategy began, there has been a 9.7 percent decline in the 12-month road toll, which is far below the rate required to achieve the 2020 target," a report by the AAA said.
There were 45 cyclist deaths in the 12-month period, up from 25 in the previous year.
