Safety experts call on government to look "beyond speed cameras" as death toll continues to rise

There are more speed cameras on Australian roads than ever before, and yet the road toll keeps rising. How can we stop the carnage?

It is the 10th anniversary of Fatality Free Friday today -- but there has never been a fatality-free Friday since its inception, as the last day of the working week remains one of the deadliest times to be on the road.

The latest figures show road deaths are up by a staggering 9.8 per cent nationally in the 12 month period to the end of April 2016, versus the same period 12 months prior, with 1271 fatalities recorded.

Indeed, the road toll has climbed since it hit a 90-year low in 2014, when there were 1153 deaths.

The steady rise has prompted safety experts to look "beyond speed cameras" to lower the road toll.

The number of fatalities has risen even though there are more speed cameras on Australian roads than ever before, prompting experts to consider new tactics.

"Whilst speed cameras indeed serve an important purpose, we do need to continually evolve our road safety strategy and ensure that we don't become too reliant on one system," said Russell White, the head of the Australian Road Safety Foundation.

We won't achieve a zero road toll through enforcement alone.

Figures show, on average, there were 3.66 road deaths nationally every Friday from 2013 to 2015, compared to the working week average of 3.0 per day.

The safest day on the road is Tuesday (an average of 2.69 deaths in 2013 to 2015); the deadliest is Saturday (3.87 deaths).

"Speed cameras and speed enforcement obviously play a critical role as road trauma counter measures and they will continue to remain that way," said Mr White. "If you are caught speeding, you only have yourself to blame. (But) we won't achieve a zero road toll through enforcement alone," he said.

Road deaths are up in every state and territory, but NSW has had the biggest spike, up by 36.6 per cent in the first four months of this year versus the same period in 2015, with 138 motorists killed so far in 2016 versus 101 from January to April 2015.