Rural Road Safety Month campaign calls for focus on behaviour
Published on 04 August 2026
Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) has joined the Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF), the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and Queensland Ambulance Service to call on all road users to take responsibility for their behaviour and choices made on and around the road.
TRC Mayor Cr Geoff McDonald, TRC Construction and Maintenance (Infrastructure Services) portfolio spokesperson Cr Carol Taylor and fellow Councillors today (Tuesday, August 4, 2026) joined ARSF chair and founder Russell White and representatives, QPS Inspector Damian Wells (Support Service Group for Darling Downs) and fellow officers, QAS officers plus commercial partners in Toowoomba to launch Rural Road Safety Month that runs during August.
The launch was held against a backdrop of 906 postcards placed in memory of the people killed on Australia’s rural roads in 2025.
New research [1] from the ARSF has exposed a deadly false sense of safety on Queensland’s country roads, where 234 people were killed last year - a 16% rise in 12 months [2]. (Nationally, 906 people, out of 1314 in total, were killed on a rural road last year - a 10.5% rise in 12 twelve months.)
Released to mark Rural Road Safety Month, the research lays bare the human factor behind the statistics: a widespread and misplaced confidence that regional roads are forgiving, which is continuing to cost lives unnecessarily.
This is a confidence not borne out by reality. While more than a quarter of Queensland drivers (27%) think rural roads are safer than city streets, the fact that more than three in every four road deaths in the state (76%) happen on regional, rural and remote roads paints a very different, and stark, picture.
ARSF’s research places the responsibility squarely on human behaviour and the choices made on and around the road. The data showed that more than half of all Queensland drivers (56%) admit to breaking a road rule on a country road.
Founder and Chair of ARSF, Russell White, said every driver, everywhere, had a part to play in preventing more deaths and debilitating injuries on regional roads.
“Make no mistake, the majority of crashes come down to human fault - whether you live in the city, the regions or the bush, every single road user makes choices that can have deadly consequences,” Mr White said.
“It’s not just reckless, high-risk driving. Most rural crashes happen in broad daylight, on an ordinary weekday, in a single vehicle, on the kind of everyday drive every one of us makes.
“Every one of those 234 people killed on rural Queensland roads last year was heading somewhere - a father picking up a child from school, a daughter heading to the movies, a partner popping out to grab milk. Our job this Rural Road Safety Month is to make sure more journeys end where they’re meant to.”
The research shows the most powerful motivator for change is also a human one: knowing they could stop someone else from reaching their family and friends would prompt more than half of Queensland drivers (53%) to take greater care behind the wheel.
Mayor McDonald said Council was pleased to support the campaign and applauded ARSF’s leadership in raising road safety awareness on rural roads and all partners’ work toward saving lives on our roads.
“The research released today is a timely reminder that most crashes are preventable and often come down to human choices. Whether you're driving to work, taking the kids to sport or heading home after a long day, every decision you make behind the wheel matters,” Mayor McDonald said.
"There can be a perception that country roads are safer because they're less busy, but the reality is that the majority of Queensland's road fatalities occur on regional, rural and remote roads. That's why road users must remain alert, plan ahead and never become complacent.
“Council and every agency supporting this campaign is committed to saving lives and reducing road accident injuries that cause untold grief and have a huge financial and social cost to our community.”
Cr Carol Taylor said the campaign was a reminder that road safety starts with each of us. The choices we make as drivers, riders, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians can help ensure everyone gets home safely.
“With a Council network of nearly 6,700km of sealed and unsealed roads, the safety and wellbeing of all road users is a high priority,” Cr Taylor said.
“Many serious crashes happen on routine trips in familiar surroundings. That's why it remains critical to avoid the fatal five behaviours: speeding, distraction, drink and drug driving, fatigue, and failing to wear a seatbelt.
“Council is committed to improving road safety through better engineering on our road projects and advocating for road safety education and enforcement, in addition to investigating new technologies to improve road management and safety. However, even the safest road network relies on road users making safe choices every time they get behind the wheel.
“Our recent Budget allocated $40.89 million for capital projects that are dedicated to improving and upgrading roads, drainage, footpaths and bikeways across the Region, including Region-wide resheeting and resealing programs. (Project details: www.tr.qld.gov.au/budget )
“Council applies for available road funding grants, including allocations under the federally funded Black Spot program, which delivers projects that reduce the incidence and severity of road traffic crashes.
“Council will keep advocating to state and federal governments to reverse the reduction in road funding in real terms for regional and rural roads. Increasing funding for road infrastructure projects is vital to keep pace with higher traffic volumes and community expectations.”
QPS Inspector Damian Wells said 17 lives had been lost across the Darling Downs in the year to date, with all but one death occurring outside built-up areas.
Mr White said road safety was a matter for everyone to look at the 1% things that they could do.
“Road trauma doesn’t discriminate. It is up to all road users to make better choices and be present,” Mr White said.
For more details, visit: www.arsf.com.au
[1] Research conducted by Pure Profile on behalf of the Australian Road Safety Foundation between 29 May – 9 June 2026 with a sample size of n=1506 adults aged 18+ years with a current driver’s licence.
2 Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Annual Road Deaths Database. Accessed May 2026.
BACKGROUND: The Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving road safety outcomes and reducing the rates of death and the mental and physical injuries that result from road crashes.
Captions: (Top) ARSF chair and founder Russell White with TRC Mayor Cr Geoff McDonald at the Rural Road Safety Month at Picnic Point.
Below: (from left) Cr Trevor Manteufel, Inspector Damian Wells, TRC Mayor Cr Geoff McDonald, road crash survivor Zach Nightingale, AAMI representative Kylie Horton, ARSF chair and founder Russell White, Cr Carol Taylor and Cr Kerry Shine help launch Rural Road Safety Month.