States must stop gatekeeping traffic accident data to improve road toll, Australian Medical Association says

Doctors back Australian Automobile Association push to tie road funding to publication of data in new federal-state agreement

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States and territories should be forced to share road accident data with the federal government to help stem Australia’s rising fatalities, the peak medical body has said, as the nation’s transport ministers finalise a new funding agreement.

The only key statistic available about the nation’s roads is that they are leaving increasing numbers of Australians dead, more than 1,200 in the past year. Information on road conditions, accidents and policing – which might help explain how these fatalities occur – are kept by state and territory governments but not shared with the federal government.

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