For every hundred kilometres of road in New South Wales, only 300 metres meet the top safety rating, according to updated data.
The Australian Roads Assessment Program (AusRAP) revealed today just 0.3 per cent of the most populous state’s nearly 19,000km of roads has its five-star safety rating, while slightly over 15 per cent has the lowest possible one-star rating.
Just under half (48 per cent) of roadways have a three-star rating, while 29.2 per cent have been given two stars.
Four stars is the second least common rating, with just 7.2 per cent meeting that benchmark.
The NRMA said the ratings highlight a need for a shift in government policy so roads are improved, as well as a need for more comprehensive data to be made available to the public in real time.
“Australians will contribute over $23 billion to the federal government through the fuel excise this year alone,” spokesman Peter Khoury said.
“They have earned the right to drive on safe roads and to have real-time data and information on the safety features of the roads they drive on every day.
“As the Australian government looks to re-focus its infrastructure funding priorities, there are two critical statistics it must keep in mind – only 0.3 per cent of the state’s roads are deemed to be truly safe and the national road toll is seven per cent higher than the same time last year.
“More of the fuel excise must go back into building safer roads and all available data on road safety must be made publicly available in real time, because if we don’t have a clear and current grasp on the problems how do we expect, as a nation, to fix them?”
The South Coast has the least safe roads in the state, according to the data, with the highest proportion of one- and two-star roadways (27.6 and 44.6 per cent) respectively.
No roads in the region meet the five-star rating.
Other regional areas such as New England and the North West (25.5 per cent one-star, 27.8 per cent two-star), and the North Coast (25.5 per cent one-star) also fared poorly in the ratings.
The Greater Sydney area has the highest proportion of both three- and five-star roads (66 and 0.6 per cent respectively) as well as the smallest share of one-star roadways at 4.3 per cent.
So far in 2023, 322 people have been killed on NSW roads, up markedly from 248 at the same time last year.
(9 NEWS)
