Hume Highway a hotspot for Goulburn and Southern Highlands crashes: data

Ten years on, Transport for NSW data shows the Hume Highway remains a hotspot for crashes across Goulburn Mulwaree and Wingecarribee.

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Out of the 1347 crashes that occurred in the two regions between 2016 and 2020, nearly one-quarter were on the Hume Highway.

After his daughter's death in 2012, Peter Frazer and his family established the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, to push the key message, "drive so others survive".

"People forget that they've actually got to look after each other on the road," Mr Frazer said.

"We forget when we're behind the wheel that it's not about us, it's about looking after all those on the road ahead, and of course, if we're looking after everyone else, we're also looking after ourselves."

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Mr Frazer said he was proud to see how communities affected by road deaths had been working to raise awareness for safer driving practices, particularly during National Road Safety Week, which was established by the SARAH group ten years ago.

"We forget that these people had loved ones and there's this ripple effect that runs out through the community," he said.

"If someone is seriously injured or killed in that area, that stays with that community."

However, Mr Frazer believed a wider approach to road safety was crucial when it came to highways such as the Hume, which is used by thousands of drivers from around the country each month.

The SARAH Group isn't just trying to advocate for greater awareness around safer driving practices but also for the construction of safer roads.

Sarah had pulled into a narrow emergency breakdown lane at Mittagong while waiting for assistance.

Had the breakdown lane been made to the Austroads standard of three metres, Sarah and Geoff, would not have been left in the line of high-speed traffic.

"Our roads are not necessarily built to their own specifications and people aren't driving to look after those on the road ahead," Mr Frazer said.

"They're two really fundamental things that we deal with on an everyday basis."

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Nationally, about 1200 people are killed on Australian roads each year according to Statista and millions are killed globally.

Transport for NSW data also revealed of the crashes along the 125km section of the Hume Highway over the past five years, 13 were fatal.

To pay tribute to all those who have lost their lives on the road, Sunday, November 20, will mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

The event remembers the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured on the world's roads and acknowledges the suffering of all affected victims, families and communities.

"We talk about remembering all those people who've been seriously injured and killed but I think people don't really understand the size of the problem," Mr Frazer said.

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