A road safety expert calls for fines ‘scaled’ by vehicle size and weight, with tougher licensing to drive large SUVs and utes, as the Aussie road toll keeps rising in 2026.
An Australian road safety expert has called for higher traffic fines for drivers of large SUVs and utes as a radical new strategy to stem the ever-increasing road toll.
The University of Melbourne Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience, Milad Haghani, said that the explosive growth of large SUVs and utes in the local new car market was a leading factor in deaths and injuries on Australian roads.
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Australia’s annual road toll has increased every year since 2020. The last time national road fatalities increased five consecutive years was 1952. And it continues to rise.
Sales of SUVs and light commercial vehicles as a proportion of the Australian new car market have more than doubled since 2006, and now make up more than 80 per cent of all new vehicles sold, according to data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
Associate Professor Haghani said that penalties for offences such as speeding could be scaled to vehicle “impact potential” and that a tiered approach – where fines or demerit points scale with vehicle mass – would better reflect the disproportionate risk that bigger cars pose.
“Speeding or running a red light is never acceptable, and we penalise those behaviours because they create risk for others as well as the driver themselves,” Associate Professor Haghani told Drive.
“What we also know is that crashes involving large utes and SUVs are often much more consequential for other road users because of the size and mass of the vehicle. There is also research suggesting that being behind the wheel of a larger vehicle can increase driver confidence and may subconsciously encourage greater risk-taking.
“One possible way to account for that additional external risk is for penalties to scale with vehicle size or mass.”
Associate Professor Haghani said higher fines for drivers of larger SUVs and utes could take on a symbolic element.
“It reinforces the notion that vehicle size matters and that the risks imposed on others are not equal across all vehicle types,” he said.
Australian road toll continues to trend upwards in 2026
Australia’s annual road toll continues to rise in 2026. According to the Australian Government’s Road Safety Data Hub, in April 2026, 121 people lost their lives on Australian roads – 20.3 per cent higher than the average for April over the previous five years.
For the 12 months to April 2026, there were 1333 road deaths – 3.5 per cent more than the same time last year. Deaths per 100,000 people increased by 1.9 per cent in the same period.
SUVs and utes now more than 80 per cent of new vehicles sold
SUVs and light commercial vehicles comprised 83.4 per cent of the Australian new vehicle market in the year to April 2026.
For the same period in 2016, it was 55.9 per cent. In 2006, it was 35 per cent.
The number of registered vehicles on Australian roads increased by nearly 8 per cent between 2022 and 2025.
Associate Professor Haghani said that “it was a very difficult question to answer” whether the increased popularity of SUVs and utes has contributed to keeping the road toll stubbornly high in Australia.
“The road toll is driven by a mix of many interacting factors,” he said. “But right now, I think some of the most pressing issues on Australian roads are number one, ever-increasing vehicle size. Number two, drug driving. And number three, rural and regional road safety.”
Research suggests that in a collision between a large SUV and a smaller car, occupants of a smaller vehicle face about a 30 per cent higher risk of dying or sustaining serious injury.
Associate Professor Haghani said that road safety dangers for Australians living regionally and rurally were “particularly systemic”.
“Across the world, and across many forms of injury and trauma beyond roads alone, rural areas tend to carry higher risk and worse outcomes,” he said.
“I don’t think achieving full parity with metropolitan areas is realistically within reach anytime soon, but risk reduction still needs to remain a major focus.”
Rise of SUVs creating greater danger for pedestrians
Research shows that pedestrians struck by SUVs are about 25 per cent more likely to sustain serious injuries and 40–45 per cent more likely to die than those hit by smaller cars.
Associate Professor Haghani added that pedestrians are currently experiencing “the worst trend of all road user groups”.
“That said, I want to acknowledge there are many other important contributors [to the Australian road toll] as well,” he said. “I’m simply highlighting the issues that, in my view, currently deserve the greatest attention.”
Tougher licensing needed for drivers of large SUVs and utes
Associate Professor Haghani said that to drive a large SUV or ute on Australian roads, you should be required to demonstrate competency for the larger type of vehicle.
“It’s very simple, driving a large ute or SUV requires different levels of skill,” he said. “Anyone who has tried parking one or navigating tight urban spaces knows that. More importantly, mistakes involving these vehicles are often much more consequential because of their size and mass.”
It’s the same reason Australia requires different licences for heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses, said Associate Professor Haghani.
“It is reasonable to expect that someone wanting to drive a particularly large ute or SUV should at least demonstrate competency in that class of vehicle,” he said.
“I don’t mean creating an entirely separate licensing regime. It could be something relatively modest or integrated into the existing system. But there is also a symbolic aspect to it. It acts as a constant reminder that vehicle size matters and that driving a larger vehicle comes with greater responsibility.”
What do you think? Anecdotally, can you share anything that supports the theory that larger SUVs and utes are making Australian roads more dangerous – and even affecting the road toll? Let us know in the comments below.
The post ‘Fine them more’: Road safety expert targets large SUVs and utes appeared first on Drive.
