NSW Central West on track for worst fatal crash toll in years

Thirteen deaths were recorded by August across the region, according to exclusive Transport NSW data.

That's about 62 per cent more than at the same point in 2022. Regional records are available from 2018, and show a previous high of 12.

So far in 2023 one fatal crash occurred in the Orange Local Government Area. Cabonne and Forbes have seen the most, each with three. Parkes, Cowra, Lachlan, and Oberon have none.

"Every life lost on our roads is one too many and has a devastating impact on the family, friends and community of the people involved," Transport NSW's Sally Webb told the Central Western Daily on Wednesday.

"Road safety is a shared responsibility ... we all have a part to play in helping each other get home safely."

An Orange City Council report in June, 2022 said total crashes had increased more than 20 per cent in town over the previous four year. It identified the city's most dangerous roads.

Fatal crashes have risen Australia-wide in 2023, continuing a multi-year trend.

In June road safety officer for Orange and Cabonne Andrea Hamilton-Vaughan told the CWD: "There is no one in the Central West that has not been touched by road trauma in some way, shape, or form, and it's just everywhere lately.

"The only way we're going to stop this is to follow the road rules and [to think] about the human suffering that is involved.

"It's the hardest part of road fatalities. Legal ramifications are very serious and they're one price to pay, but the loss of human life ... that cannot be replaced."

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