RACQ Group Chief Executive Officer David Carter said $220 million for infrastructure upgrades and initial commitments for improved road safety programs were a good start.

“We supported the State Government’s Road Safety Roundtable in January which tragically came off the back of Queensland’s worst road toll in more than a decade,” Mr Carter said.

“We’re pleased to see some of our recommendations have been adopted and these actions will serve as a solid foundation for future initiatives to save lives.

“We welcome the rollout of the ‘Ride to Zero’ program which has been in development for four years now and includes peer-to-peer, or rider-to-rider education.

“RACQ also welcomes the Government’s commitment to urgently work with us on more peer-to-peer influencing programs for all high-risk road users, as we requested during the roundtable.”

Mr Carter acknowledged the $220 million commitment for road upgrades as a decent start and urged the Government to maximise taxpayer investment by focusing on the sections that see the highest fatalities.

“RACQ analysis of 21,500km of regional state-owned roads showed that around 12% of this road length accumulated nearly 60% of the annual deaths and serious injuries, so concentrating on these specific roads through the Targeted Road Safety Program will have the greatest impact in reducing the annual road toll,” he said.

Mr Carter said it was also encouraging to see the Government commit to a targeted increase in high-visibility police enforcement, which the Club had advocated for at the roundtable.

“One way we can change driver behaviour fast is by boosting police visibility on our roads. We know this works and it’s what our members are calling for. This is particularly needed in regional Queensland where the number of deaths are disproportionately high,” he said.

As Queensland’s peak motoring body, RACQ is committed to being a strong voice for its members and will work closely with governments to ensure the right decisions are being made to save lives.