Almost 1200 people have been killed on Australian roads in the past 12 months.
Deaths were recorded in every state and territory during 2019 with the number of lives lost totalling 1182. That's 47 deaths more than in 2018.
NSW led the toll, with 352 fatalities during the 2019 calendar year. The count surpassed the state's total of 346 for the previous year.
Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia also recorded a higher number of deaths in 2019 than in 2018.
Australia's road toll rose in four states in 2019. Source: AAP
In one of the nation's most deadly crashes, five men were killed on 2 December when a Toyota Camry rolled off the Northern Territory's Arnhem Highway in the Kakadu National Park.
The car hit trees and police said speed was believed to be a contributing factor in the crash.
Drivers were most often killed in fatal smashes, with motorcyclists and regional road users also featuring in the statistics.
Victoria's 2019 road toll is a bitter pill for the state which a year earlier recorded its lowest number (212) of road deaths since records began.
Those killed on Victoria's roads included 196 males, 48 pedestrians and 44 motorcyclists.
The federal Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics has wanted to reduce Australia's annual road toll between 2010 and 2020 from more than 1400 to 1000.
2019 Road Deaths
- NSW: 352
- Victoria: 263
- Queensland: 217
- WA: 164
- SA: 113
- NT: 35
- Tasmania: 32
- ACT: 6
- Total: 1182
