National holiday road toll falls by nearly half on last year

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/04/national-holiday-road-toll-falls

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The Christmas-new year holiday road toll has fallen by more than 40%, with 28 lives lost during the period, down from 48 in 2012-13.

NSW roads claimed the most lives this holiday season, with seven people killed in six crashes.

Two men died on Boxing Day after the car they were travelling in hit an embankment on the central coast.

The driver, a 29-year-old man, was charged with negligent driving causing death.

In Queensland five people were killed, including a couple on the Gold Coast who died in a crash on the final day of the road toll period.

Crashes in Victoria and Western Australia led to five deaths in each state, while three people died on Tasmania's roads.

The ACT, Northern Territory and South Australia recorded one fatality each.

The result is a significant decrease from the previous year, when 48 people were killed on Australian roads.

During the same period in 2010-11, 50 people died.

The national road toll period ran from midnight on 23 December, 2013, until 11.59pm on 3 January, 2014, local times.

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