People seven times more likely to die on Hunter roads than in Metropolitan Sydney

From 2017 to 2021, on average there were 9.75 road deaths per 100,000 people in the Hunter, according to data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE).

This is staggeringly more than the 1.4 road deaths per 100,000 people in Metropolitan Sydney, and more than double the rate in NSW as a whole, which is 4.04.

The data represents 87 road deaths in the Hunter, 317 in Metropolitan Sydney and 1648 in NSW.

The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) is calling for action to reduce these high numbers.

The AAA said according to BITRE data, there were 340 road deaths in NSW in the 12 months leading up to September 30, 2023.

This is up by 17.2 per cent on the previous year, which was 290.

Two thirds of those NSW deaths happened in regional areas.

The AAA said the government must respond to the crisis by publishing data about the causes of crashes, the condition of our roads, and patterns of law enforcement.

"This would enhance transparency and give experts the information needed to create more effective road safety policies,'' said AAA managing director Michael Bradley.

"The NSW Government holds the data we need to understand these figures, but like other states and territories, it's not making it public.

"Data transparency is a better way. It's commonsense, will cost nothing and will save lives.''

The AAA has launched a campaign called Data Saves Live, calling on the federal government to compel state and territory governments to publish more road safety data.

Mr Bradley said the Commonwealth already attached data requirements to funding in health and education and that road funding should be no different.

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