In 1996, 42 people died on the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane. Last year, that figure was down to 20.

The reason for the drastic decline in the number of deaths is that much of the highway has now been upgraded to four lanes.

The rate of decline is the same for the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne.

Since it has become a multi-lane expressway the road toll has been cut dramatically.

So when will the various governments across Australia realise that in many cases it’s the state of our roads that are leading to the high number of fatalities?

The ridiculous number of speed zones within the Wagga city limits, and other centres, plus the plethora of school crossing lollipop supervisors do little to save lives.

In Wagga, not one child has died after being hit by a car in the past 35 years in a school zone.

So why are we wasting money on a problem that isn’t there?

Flashing lights are fine so let’s just do away with the added cost of the supervisors.

As you can see the figures speak for themselves.

The more money being spent upgrading our major roads and highways is translating to lives being saved.

It’s hoped the Pacific Highway will be completed by the end of the decade.

Rest assured, when that work is finished the death toll will drop to single figures.

It’s not rocket science because it’s all there in black and white.

It’s time for the bureaucrats to stop making decisions on knee-jerk reactions and just work with the facts and figures at hand.

If that happens, and they spend our money more wisely, our roads will be far safer.