New ratings show roads are safer

Saturday 4 July 2026

Flagstaff Road

AusRAP uses star ratings to evaluate current road safety risk and help assess the benefits of road safety treatments to inform investment priorities into potentially life-saving upgrades.

Roads are rated on a scale from one- to five-stars, with five being the safest. For each one-star improvement in rating, the risk of fatal or serious injury is roughly halved.

A lower star rating doesn’t mean that a road is unsafe or dangerous to use, but it does indicate that improvements could be made to reduce the risk of a crash occurring and the crash severity.

More than 3,000 kilometres of the South Australian regional network has an improved star rating since the first assessment in 2014 and more than 1,500 km of road length has been improved to three-star or better rating.

As a result, 55 per cent of travel on the regional network now takes place on three-star or better roads.

The star ratings are informed by detailed data on road characteristics and layout, safety infrastructure, speed limits, and traffic volumes – not driver behaviour.

Typically, higher-rated roads feature elements such as sealed shoulders, audio tactile line marking, a smooth surface, wider lanes and curves, and barriers.

The $168 million National Road Safety Program, jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments on a 50:50 basis, is delivering upgrades to improve roads to a three-star rating.

The program has included improvements to regional roads and highways such as Mannum Road, Main South Road, Upper Yorke Road, Mallee Highway, Lincoln Highway, Thiele Highway, RM Williams Way, Southern Ports Highway, and the Barrier Highway.

The State Government’s ongoing $10 million regional road safety infrastructure program is delivering safety upgrades along the Southern Ports Highway, Spencer Highway, Flinders Highway, Goolwa Road and Gorge Road.

The $150 million Adelaide Hills Productivity and Road Safety Package, jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments (80:20), is improving road safety on some of the Adelaide Hills key strategic arterial roads.

South Australia’s Road Safety Strategy to 2031, released in December 2021, includes an outcome to improve the star rating of South Australia’s road network.

The latest AusRAP data will assist in developing road safety initiatives for submission into future budget processes.

These star ratings help to work towards the national road safety target that by 2030, at least 80 per cent of travel occurs on three-star roads or better.

This is part of Australia’s broader commitment to Vision Zero – the goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2050.

The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) is a national initiative led by Austroads, the association of Australasian road transport and traffic agencies.

To view the AusRAP dashboard, please visit www.austroads.info/ausrap.