The ‘road toll’ is a benign term that sanitises the senseless waste of human life in Australia

‘Why is what we do in our vehicles a lesser species of harm in nomenclature and penalty?’ Photograph: Steven Markham/AAP

And, so, December ends with the reality-biting grimness that 2023 was the deadliest on Australian roads in five-and-a-half years.

The fact that 1,253 people were killed in Australian vehicle crashes to 18 December (three more people were killed two days later and still others may have been, too, by the time you read this) should be a matter of deep societal anguish and reflection. If people were dying violently in such numbers in any other way, it would be a national emergency.