The deadliest start to a year on the state’s roads in five years has promoted a plea from the Queensland Police Service (QPS).
QPS Road Policing and Regional Support Command Acting Chief Superintendent Garrath Channells said more than 15 lives had been lost on Queensland roads in the first few weeks of 2025.
Acting Chief Superintendent Channells there had been more than double the fatalities recorded than during the same period last year.
He said it was the highest number of lives lost for this period since 2020.
“It comes amid the statewide road safety blitz, Operation Mistletoe, which has seen officers right across Queensland deployed on high visibility road safety operations with the aim of reducing the lives lost on Queensland roads.”
Acting Chief Superintendent Channells said despite consistent and targeted police action, the start of 2025 had seen 17 people lose their lives on Queensland roads, from crashes, as at January 20.
“These tragic numbers are not just statistics, they represent fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and friends whose lives have been cut short.
“Police are out there doing everything they can on the roads to try and bring this figure down and ensure people can return home to loved ones or their families.
“We’re pleading with every road user to make the right choices, because every decision you make on the road has the power to save a life or take one.”
He said the QPS continued to analyse road data from 2024, to learn if there were ways to better inform road safety operations for the 2025 year.
Acting Chief Superintendent Channells said towards the end of 2024, the QPS observed a growing trend in deaths involving vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, motorcycle riders, and users of personal mobility devices such as e-scooters and e-bikes.
“Pedestrian deaths more than doubled with eight lives lost during 2024 compared to three in 2023, while eight people lost their lives on personal mobility devices, such as e-scooters and e-skateboards during 2024, compared to two lives lost in 2023.
“We also saw an increase in deaths of motorcycle riders with 79 lives lost in 2024 compared to 77 motorcycle rider deaths in 2023.”
He said, in the year ahead, the QPS would leverage this intelligence and technology to deploy targeted and tactical road safety operations.
