One person has died on Queensland roads every 29 hours this year with the road toll for 2025 at 200 – so far.
The toll was disclosed by RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) on August 31.
Twenty-four hours later, Qld Police said four men had died on Wide Bay Burnett roads in under 24 hours on the weekend.
RACQ general manager for advocacy Josh Cooney says the state could have been on track for a road toll under 200.
He says speeding continues to be the leading factor in road crashes and wants urgent action taken to curb these tragedies.
“We cannot accept the status quo while this road safety crisis worsens. With four months left of 2025 and the ‘silly season’ still ahead, Queensland is on course for its deadliest year since 2009,” he warns.
“Right now, one person dies on our roads almost every day; speeding remains the leading factor in fatal crashes, contributing to an average of 79 deaths every year.”
DEADLY WEEKEND ON QLD ROADS
On Monday, Qld Police said four men had died on Wide Bay Burnett roads in under 24 hours on the weekend.
Police say that at 3pm on August 30, two died in a crash at Chatsworth and another died at Apple Tree Creek (9.30pm) with a third death at Kandanga on August 31 (6am).
Wide Bay Burnett Police District Officer Superintendent Anne Vogler says the losses are a tragic reminder about road safety.
“We tragically lost four lives across our district within two days which is devasting for our community,” she says.
“Though investigations into the circumstances of the incidents are ongoing, it’s likely Fatal Five factors like speed and driving under the influence were contributors to the crashes.”
The RACQ’s 2025 road safety survey revealed how prevalent speeding was; 76.5% of Queensland drivers admitting to speeding.
Young drivers, especially young men aged 18-24 years, are among the most reckless as 28% believe it is safe to drive more than 11km/h over the limit, the RACQ says.
“Speeding is dangerous because it not only increases the risk of a crash happening but also the severity of the impact if one does happen,” Cooney says.
“We must urgently implement key reforms to change driver behaviour including more visible police on our roads, more point-to-point cameras and tougher penalties for repeat offenders such as impounding vehicles.
“Unless attitudes shift, the number of lives lost each year will only get worse. Right now, we’re staring down the barrel of above 300 deaths again in 2025.”
Since 2017, self-reported speeding rose 5.7%, the RACQ says; almost 65.1% of drivers saying speeding happened because they were not paying attention and 46.1% believed they would not get caught.
“The reason why people speed is because they aren’t focussing or believe they won’t get caught: this shows just how far we’ve drifted from a safe driving culture in Queensland,” Cooney says.
Learn more about staying safe on Qld roads via: www.police.qld.gov.au/initiatives/fatal-five-staying-safe-roads
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