As Australia grapples with a troubling increase in road fatalities – climbing to 1,300 deaths in 2024, the highest toll in over a decade – Powerfleet Australia reaffirms its commitment to road safety as a proud supporter of National Road Safety Week 2025. Taking place from 11 to 18 May, this vital initiative led by the SARAH Group creates a national moment for reflection on road trauma and collective action to save lives.
“Every year, too many lives are lost on Australian roads. At Powerfleet, we believe that must change,” says Brodie von Berg, Managing Director of Powerfleet Australia. “That’s why we are once again proud to support National Road Safety Week, an initiative that deeply resonates with our collective mission: Drive so others survive.”
This partnership embodies a natural collaboration between both organisations. While SARAH Group focuses on raising awareness and changing behaviours at the community level, Powerfleet provides the technology that enables organisations to protect their drivers and, by extension, all road users.
Making road safety personal
The seeds of National Road Safety Week were sown through personal tragedy. Peter Frazer, President of the SARAH Group, founded the organisation after losing his daughter in a preventable crash.
“Thirteen years ago, my beautiful daughter Sarah was killed in a completely preventable road crash by a distracted truck driver,” Frazer explains. “We had to do something about this terrible trauma, struggle, and suffering. We first created the yellow ribbon because yellow was my daughter’s favourite colour. We are truly proud that in 2015, a decade ago, it became the national symbol for road safety.”
From this beginning grew a powerful social contract that underpins the initiative: “I look after your family, and you look after mine. We may never meet those families, and we hope that, at the end of the day, we don’t need to, but we can actually look after each other,” says Frazer.
Technology’s role in preventing tragedies
While awareness is essential, technology plays a vital role in making roads safer. Powerfleet’s approach targets the primary causes of road incidents.
“When we look at the problems our customers face, they’re no different from anyone else. The same factors appear at the top of the list: distraction, fatigue, and speeding,” von Berg explains. “With AI-powered cameras in vehicles now, we can intervene in real time to alert the driver, wake them up, and carry out those critical actions that make them safer.”
These technological interventions are creating measurable impacts. Large organisations adopting safety systems, such as those provided by Powerfleet, have shown lower crash and injury rates than the general population, proving that improvement is possible with the right tools and commitment.
A call to action: The Pledge
National Road Safety Week encourages all Australians to make a personal commitment to drive safely. This year’s event will commence with a launch at the Sydney Opera House, which, along with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, will be illuminated in yellow as a global symbol for road safety.
“We ask people to go to the National Road Safety Week website and make your personal pledge. When you read through the pledge and decide that you’re going to comply with what we’re asking – looking after everyone so everyone can get home safe – you’re making that commitment,” Frazer urges.
Von Berg emphasises Powerfleet’s commitment: “I’m going to go first this year, Peter, and make my pledge to drive so others survive.” So far, over 72,000 people have taken the pledge to make Australian roads safer for everyone.
Looking Ahead
The partnership between Powerfleet and the SARAH Group demonstrates how industry, community organisations, and technology can unite to tackle essential safety challenges.
“This is the technology that must be implemented across fleets, full stop,” says Frazer. “When you consider the size of the industry, we have the ability to make a significant impact on road safety, ensuring everyone returns home safely.”
As National Road Safety Week 2025 approaches, Powerfleet invites all Australians, especially fleet operators and drivers, to join in making the pledge and taking concrete actions to ensure that everyone gets home safely to their loved ones every day, without exceptions.
