Queensland is tipped to have its most devastating year for road fatalities as the number of deaths continues to climb.
The Sunshine State has lost 259 lives including 15 children on its roads in 2024, trailing only NSW in the national road toll.
The sheer magnitude of deaths was on display in Brisbane's CBD on Friday, with life-sized cutouts representing each person lost featuring in a tribute, stopping some onlookers in their tracks.
"A lot of people are looking at it and saying 'my god this really says something about what is happening on our roads'," Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters on Friday.
"We don't think about this enough.
"There's almost an acceptance that 'we're going to drive in the car, there could be a crash'. That's not the way it should be."
The number of Queensland road deaths is already 15 higher than at the same time last year, with the toll set to overtake 277 in 2023.
"Our research is indicating that we are trending towards it being one of the most devastating years on Queensland roads," Acting Assistant Commissioner Janelle Andrews said.
So far in 2024, NSW has recorded the highest road toll with 299 deaths, followed by Queensland, with Victoria next at 247.
The Northern Territory has had a dramatic increase in fatalities, with 57 deaths to date compared to 31 in 2023.
The NT has the highest road fatality rate per capita at 23.6 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Tasmania at 6.3, Western Australia at 6.1 and Queensland at 5.
South Australia has had 77 road fatalities in 2024, with WA at 157 and Tasmania 26.
Queensland's road toll increased on Tuesday after a horror crash claimed the lives of a mother and her 13-year-old son on the Bruce Highway.
Her husband and 15-year-old son were also in the car when it was rear-ended by a truck near Raglan, in central Queensland, suffering non-life threatening injuries but life-long consequences.
The crash placed the notorious highway - Queensland's major arterial road from Brisbane to the north - under the spotlight again.
The Bruce Highway, which stretches from Brisbane to Cairns, has been ranked as the worst road in Queensland for being too rough and narrow, lacking overtaking opportunities and having two-lane sections that are too short.
Mr Gollschewski said there has been 27 fatal crashes on highway in 2024 and 34 deaths.
He said it was a challenge to stem the toll on such a long roadway with high traffic flow and crashes often in remote areas.
"It puts pressure on our systems getting there," Mr Gollschewski said.
Queensland's Liberal National government has committed to fixing the "goat track" to bring it up to scratch.
Premier David Crisafulli said the government would come up with a plan for upgrades and continue to lobby for an increase in federal road funding.
"We're going to go to Canberra and respectfully, but forcefully, fight for our fair share of funding, and that means we can deliver more on a road that's an absolute disgrace," he told reporters in Rockhampton.
The premier said federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had committed to increasing the funding share if elected in 2025.
The LNP government will also reintroduce the Bruce Highway advisory group set up 10 years ago and refresh it with the "best and brightest".
