The Department of State Growth is progressively auditing popular motorcycle touring routes across Tasmania.

Safe System Motorcycle Safety Audits aim to identify low-cost, corridor-wide infrastructure treatments that will help reduce the risk of fatal and serious injury crashes occurring on key touring routes. Treatments identified by these audits also improve the 'legibility' of each route by providing widespread and consistent information on hazards.

Each audit brings together experienced motorcyclists, road safety experts and road managers to collaboratively identify solutions that best improve road safety outcomes for motorcyclists. Touring routes are an important focus, as visiting motorcyclists represent more than 40 per cent of non-Tasmanians fatally or seriously injured on Tasmanian roads.

Audit routes have been identified based on crash data, and each audit provides an opportunity for key motorcycle stakeholders to provide input on where the next audit should take place.

Under the Action Plan, approximately 300km of road has been audited as part of this program with over $900,000 in funding allocated to deliver the audits and infrastructure improvements identified through the audits.

On 28 September 2024, the Lyell Highway, between Derwent Bridge and Queenstown, was audited as part of this initiative.

This route was identified as a suitable touring route to conduct a road safety audit given its crash history. In the last 10 years, there have been 26 crashes involving motorcycles, seven of which involved serious injuries. 70 per cent of the crashes over that period of time were non-Tasmanian licence holders, demonstrating its popularity as a touring route.

The Department of State Growth is currently developing a schedule of works for the route with installation expected to occur in 2025/26.