Australia's road toll is rising and "brave" decisions such as lowering speed limits are needed to help reach the goal of halving fatalities by 2030, a peak safety body says.
There were 1258 deaths on the nation's roads in 2023 - a 6.6 per cent jump on the previous year and the third year in a row the figure has gone up.
The road toll for 2024 reached 863 by the end of August, according to the most recent federal government data.
Governments around the country have committed to halving the road toll by 2030. (Jane Dempster/AAP PHOTOS)
About 40,000 people are seriously injured in crashes annually.
The federal government, states and territories have signed a pledge aiming to halve the road toll and reduce serious injuries by 30 per cent by 2030.
"It is absolutely a crisis," Ingrid Johnston, CEO of the Australasian College of Road Safety, said of the carnage.
"If we don't do something differently, then instead of halving fatalities by 2030 we will have increased them."
Dr Johnston is among 600 road safety professionals and academics attending the multi-day 2024 Australasian Road Safety Conference in Hobart.
Ingrid Johnston says the growing carnage on the roads is "absolutely a crisis". (Ethan James/AAP PHOTOS)
"(Australia) used to be one of the world's leaders and in recent years we have slipped down the rankings," she said.
"As other countries have been reducing their fatalities, ours have been increasing."
Dr Johnston urged policy and law makers to consider reducing speed limits as well as tightening safety regulations for new and imported cars.
"In a built up area, if you have vehicles mixing with pedestrians and cyclists then the vehicles need to be doing only 30km/h," she said.
"We have to make the brave decisions and we have to turn this around. For some reason we accept people die on the roads."
In August, more than 100 road safety researchers and academics signed an open letter calling on state and territory governments to lower speed limits.
They said Wales reported a 32 per cent reduction in deaths on roads where it cut the speed limit from 48km/h to 32km/h.
"We know road trauma is a major issue around our country," Scott Tilyard, chair of Tasmania's Road Safety Advisory Council, said.
One road death changes the lives of many people in an instant, Scott Tilyard says. (Ethan James/AAP PHOTOS)
"It has a huge effect on families and a ripple effect across the entire community.
"A lot of people will know someone who has lost someone. In an instant it changes people's lives."
Mr Tilyard said a close look at speeds was needed and the council would soon discuss if it wanted to push for cuts on certain roads.
Tasmania was unlikely to reach its own target of reducing its annual serious casualties to fewer than 200 by 2026, Mr Tilyard said.
Tasmania's Transport Minister Eric Abetz, who attended the conference, didn't say whether he backed cutting speed limits, saying the commissioner for transport determined speed limits and the decision was above politics.