Get Serious on Road Safety

Get Serious on Road Safety 

 

Crack down on dangerous drivers to save lives.

 

Queensland is facing a law and order crisis on our roads. 

The 4000 drivers charged with Dangerous Driving over the past four years had already racked up more than 95,000 traffic offences - that’s an average of 23 offences each.

Speeding, drink driving and drug driving are the top three causes of road trauma. 

In 2024, 302 lives were lost on Queensland roads – the worst road toll in 15 years. 

RACQ and its partners are calling for greater enforcement and consequences for dangerous and repeat offenders.

It’s time to get serious on road safety, strengthen Queensland’s laws, and save lives.
 

Your community 

Get Serious on Road Safety

THE CRISIS

The 4000 drivers charged with Dangerous Driving over the past four years had already racked up more than 95,000 traffic offences - that’s an average of 23 offences each.
302 people died on Queensland roads in 2024* – the worst toll in 15 years. 
31,742 crashes where a person was killed or seriously injured from 2019 to 2023.
139 people died in the first half of 2025.*

SPEEDING EPIDEMIC

On average 79 deaths per year involved speeding* – more than 1/4 of the road toll.
Only 1/3 of Queensland drivers say they obey speed limits.^ 
28% of young male drivers believe it’s safe to drive more than 11 km/h over the speed limit.^^ 

INTOXICATED CARNAGE

On average 57 deaths per year involved a drink driver and 59 involved a drug driver. *
Queensland’s positive drug test rate in 2023 was 21%** — more than double that of NSW and Queensland’s drug testing rate is amongst the lowest in Australia.
1 in 6 young drivers admit to driving under the influence of illicit drugs. ^^^

OVER-REPRESENTED RIDERS

Motorcycles make up just 4% of vehicles, but riders accounted for over 26% of road deaths in 2024.* 

HIGH-RISK ROADS

Of 21,500 km of Queensland Government roads assessed by RACQ from 2019-23, just 13.2% (2840 km) accounted for:

- 63.4% of fatal and serious crashes.
- 47.5% of road deaths.

Reform needed

We’re calling for the State Government to commit to urgent reforms to reduce road trauma:

  • digital-camera
    More point-to-point speed cameras in high-risk zones
    Point-to-point speed cameras on high-crash risk roads would alter driver behaviour by encouraging them to drive at or under the speed limit for longer distances.
  • road
    Increased on-road police presence
    86% of RACQ members say they believe more highly visible on-road police would improve driver behaviour on our roads.
  • car-slippery-lines
    Stronger impoundment laws for repeat and extreme offenders
    We need to remove access to vehicles from drivers who continue to flout the law and endanger the lives of others.
  • heart-rate
    Increased roadside drug and alcohol testing
    We’d like to see at least one random breath test performed per licensed person, per year in Queensland – that’s about 4 million. We also believe drug testing should be mandatory for all drivers involved in serious crashes.
  • motorcycle
    Motorcycle licensing reform focused on rider skills
    Too many riders are dying, we need to ensure they are well skilled to ride for life.

Partnering organisations:

Sarah logo
qta logo
Royal_Australasian_College_of_Surgeons

Campaign news

Read the latest road safety campaign news

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Things to note

The information in this article has been prepared for general information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice or specific advice to any particular person. Any advice contained in the document is general advice, not intended as legal advice or professional advice and does not take into account any person’s particular circumstances. Before acting on anything based on this advice you should consider its appropriateness to you, having regard to your objectives and needs.

References:

*Annual averages calculated based on data between 2020 and 2024 (inclusive)

**Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts - Police Enforcement

^RACQ Annual Road Safety Survey 2024

^^RACQ Young Drivers Survey 2024

^^^RACQ Annual Road Safety Survey 2023