Australian Road Safety Foundation founder and chair Russell White with one of the 906 postcards that commemorate those killed on Australia’s rural roads in 2025. Photo: Australian Road Safety Foundation

IT’S NATIONAL Rural Road Safety Month, and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator is using it to join the call for improved safety on our roads as statistics indicate an increase in heavy vehicle crashes and fatalities on rural roads.

In the year to June 30, 59 fatal heavy vehicles crashes occurred on rural roads resulting in 63 deaths, up from 52 crashes and 59 fatalities in 2024-25.

NHVR chief operations officer Paul Salvati said the data from the Australian Road Deaths Database showed a worrying upward trend.

“Between FY24 and FY25 we saw a drop in both the number of fatal rural heavy vehicle crashes and the lives lost as a result of them – it seemed messages about road safety on rural roads was getting through,” Mr Salvati said.

“Sadly, between FY25 and FY26, both of these figures have jumped to levels even higher than in FY24 – we are losing more lives to more heavy vehicle crashes in country areas and it’s a trend we must turn around.

Mr Salvati said rural roads present unique risks through being narrower, often far from emergency assistance, and can present a relentless and tiring driving experience.

“Drivers on these roads have a very different experience than those in metro areas – simple things such as more active wildlife on the road and less physical separation between opposing traffic streams can be factors that contribute to crashes.”

Mr Salvati said light vehicle drivers using these roads will share space with some of the largest heavy vehicles in the country – these vehicles need much longer distances to stop safely and have multiple blind spots which makes overtaking more dangerous.”

Rural Road Safety Month is an initiative of the Australian Road Safety Foundation and runs throughout August.

The percentage of fatal rural heavy vehicle crashes varies across jurisdictions regulated by the NHVR, but Tasmania had the worst record with all fatal heavy vehicle crashes in FY26 occurring in rural areas.

Queensland had the next highest rate at 43 percent, followed by South Australia and New South Wales at 40pc and 36.5pc respectively.

Victoria has a significantly lower rate of rural fatal heavy vehicle crashes at just 17.5pc.

Mr Salvati said while some states seemed to have lower crash metrics, the numbers still represented road users who did not make it home safely to their loved ones.

“If you look at states like South Australia and Tasmania, it might seem that the number of fatal heavy vehicle crashes across a 12-month period is relatively low, but it’s important to remember that each of these crashes resulted in the loss of life.”

“Australia’s road network is vast and much of it services regional, rural and remote parts of the country.

“All road users need to be vigilant on rural roads to reduce both the number of incidents and the resulting loss of life.”

The FY26 data showed most fatal heavy vehicle crashes in rural areas occurred in 100-110kmh speed zones, which are more prevalent outside of major cities.

The NHVR runs ongoing safety campaigns to educate experienced and newer drivers on how to drive safely around trucks in all settings.

In FY26, the NHVR ran more than 60 operations across its jurisdiction to educate and inform drivers operating in rural areas of their responsibilities under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

The regulator’s Safety and Compliance teams also work with agencies such as state police to run holistic road safety and compliance operations in the regions.

Click here to find out more about the Australian Road Safety Foundation’s Rural Road Safety Month.

NOTE: NHVR regulates Heavy Vehicle National Law in participating jurisdictions, which do not include Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Source: NHVR