Bruce Highway is Deadliest in Australia

In Australia, the deadliest road has been named Bruce Highway by the Australian Road Assessment Program. Making up 32% of Queensland’s national highways, it has two-thirds of the most dangerous strips in the state. According to figures, 50% of accidents and 61% of deaths on the state’s highways between 2005 and 2009 were reported on Bruce Highway.

The road stretches from Brisbane to Cairns, and at 1,700km long, it’s one of the most heavily trafficked in the state, as it links tourist spots on the coast north of Canberra. Most of the state’s road freight is also carried on the highway. Since it’s a federal road, most or all funding for construction works comes from the capital.

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) has called for the Bruce Highway to get $100 million in funding every year for the next decade to just improve safety. Michael Roth, the executive manager of public policy, says that they could write this year after year. The highway is getting worse and real money is beginning to be spent on it, which is good. However, the pressure needs to be kept up for increases. Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace says the government has spent $2.3 billion on Bruce Highway in the last five years.

Both the Liberal National Party (LNP) and Australian Labor Party (ALP) acknowledge that committed action needs to be taken on the Bruce Highway. The LNP released its plan for the road last month, while it vowed last year to listen to a range of players before developing a plan if it’s put in office. Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney says the Australian Road Assessment Program’s report shows that Labor wasted their opportunity to improve the highway, as it follows a series of bad accidents south of Rockhampton during the week.

Roth adds there are few real differences, but the mindset of funding improvements needs to change. The governments have been focused on safer vehicles and motorists. However, they haven’t been focused on safer roads, and without that is where the minor errors that happen to motorists, who wear their seat belts and drive under the speed limit, come from. Those minor errors can end in catastrophe and death.

Australian Road Assessment Program’s report recommends the Bruce Highway get more overtaking lanes, guard rails, wider lanes and shoulders, audio-tactile line markings, safer intersections, and that roadside objects be removed to reduce the road toll. State Traffic Support Branch Acting Chief Superintendent Andy Morrow says the condition of roads is a key factor in road crashes, but driver behaviour is the most important. The most dangerous thing is motorists ignoring road conditions and driving like nothing could be wrong with the highway.