By Jack Gramenz in Sydney

Cars have never been safer but attempts to drive down deaths on Australia’s roads have taken a wrong turn, with no state on track to meet its target after the deadliest month since the goal was adopted.

The 129 deaths on Australian roads in November was the deadliest month since December 2017, when 130 people were killed.

It is more than 30 per cent higher than the November average since 2019, the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics’ latest monthly report says.

The 1318 deaths on roads in the 12-month period to the end of November is despite attempts to halve the number of deaths by 2030 compared to a 2018-20 baseline.

Road safety interventions are failing because of a lack of data-sharing and analysis,  Australian Automobile Association managing director Michael Bradley says.

The November death toll served as a reminder of more traffic during the summer holiday period.

“There is no time to waste in tackling our road safety crisis,” Mr Bradley said.

Deaths in the year since November 2023 more than doubled in the Northern Territory, rising from 29 deaths in the preceding 12 months to 59.

Queensland followed with an additional 24 deaths (303 in total), while NSW had 350 people killed on its roads, an increase of 15 deaths over the previous period.

South Australia, the only state which recorded fewer deaths, had 93 people die on its roads, down from 112 in the preceding 12-month period, in which deaths increased 60 per cent.

Safety ratings have been produced for more than 450,000km of road across the nation but states and territories are still not sharing the data, despite agreeing to release it, Mr Bradley said.

With the nation’s vehicle fleet the safest it has been, publishing the data would give insight into how road conditions contribute to the number of fatalities, as well as identify which roads need investment for safety upgrades, Mr Bradley said.

“The transparency would also clip the wings of politicians tempted to invest in roads to win marginal electorates, rather than to save lives,” he said.

The association represents more than nine million members of state-based motoring clubs around the nation.