There are calls to hand out “harsher penalties” to repeat offenders of dangerous driving as the death toll on Australian roads continues to stubbornly stay at alarming levels. Campaigners want jail time to be more seriously considered if drivers are repeatedly caught committing one of the “fatal five” acts.
Diane McMurtrie, who established Hannah’s Blue Butterflies Road Safety Awareness after her daughter was killed in a car crash, told Yahoo News the organisation is pushing for strong deterrents to be in put in place across the country for those who commit the same road infringement more than once. She says a lot more than increased surveillance is desperately needed to curb the rising number of road tragedies.
“Five people a day are dying on our roads…. If we had five people a day being stabbed in the streets, there would be an outcry,” she told Yahoo News. “This is urgent. It’s a national crisis, and something has to change.”
Families cop ‘life sentences’ rather than offenders, campaigner says
Diane wants the federal government to step in and enforce the same laws across the country — and not have separate laws for each state and territory jurisdiction. She is calling for national laws to ensure anyone caught drink driving, driving under the influence of drugs, speeding, using their mobile phones or driving fatigued to risk jail time.
“We would like custodial sentences,” she said. “I think they [repeat offenders] should do mandatory traffic offender programs, and go to morgues, and talk with families who have lost a loved one as a result.”
Hannah’s Blue Butterflies Road Safety Awareness has started a petition to enact tougher restrictions. The group’s leaders told Yahoo they plan to contact the federal government once they secure 20,000 signatures.
“Repeat offenders are making decisions, and they’re fatal ones,” Diane said. “Decisions have consequences. Criminals walk free, get suspended sentences or a slap on the wrist, and instead, it’s the families with the life sentences.”
In the 12 months to July 2025, 1,340 people died on Australian roads, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows. This was almost three per cent more than the previous 12 months.
Authorities tackle road deaths by amping up surveillance
Authorities have been scrambling to provide solutions to the issue of Australia’s rising road death toll, and surveillance has been ramped up in recent years in a bid to catch and deter motorists from dangerous driving.
New ‘smart’ road cameras able to detect mobile and seatbelt offences are popping up across the country, with AI-powered safety cameras appearing in multiple states, including Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Roadside cameras in Tasmania racked up $9.5 million in fines after issuing close to 60,000 tickets in a single year, and while many highways are getting new road cameras introduced, others — such as those in the ACT — are being improved to detect multiple offences.
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