Holiday road toll reaches 19
THE national holiday road toll reached 19, after three deaths on New South Wales roads pushed the toll higher on Boxing Day.
Since Friday, when the national road safety blitz began, there were five fatalities in NSW.
Queensland had one death, along with Tasmania and Western Australia.
But a triple fatality on Monday in Central Australia also helped to push up the toll after a horrific crash near Hermannsburg in the Northern Territory.
And numerous single fatalities in Victoria sent that state's holiday road toll soaring, up to six in as many days.
The national holiday blitz will continue until January 3, with many states having double demerit points on driving offences, as well as more police on the roads around the country.
EARLIER: The holiday road toll has risen to nine after a horror period on the nation's roads.
Three people were killed in the Northern Territory when a car, which had been involved in a police pursuit earlier on Christmas Eve, crashed near Hermannsburg.
Two women aged 26 and 32 died instantly and a 30-year-old man died at the scene.
A 26-year-old man has been charged with dangerous driving causing death, recklessly endangering life, driving a motor vehicle whilst disqualified and bringing liquor into a restricted area.
The first Christmas road fatality in Western Australia happened on Monday afternoon.
A young man was killed in a single vehicle crash near Esperance, about 750km from Perth.
In Victoria the fourth fatal crash in as many days happened on the Princess Hwy near Dandenong late Christmas eve.
A man in his 60s died.
A NSW woman was also killed when the car she was travelling in with her husband and another married couple crashed at Mount Ousley.
The South Australian road toll rose to two yesterday with the death of a driver at Millicent.
This followed the death of a young woman whose car hit a tree on Monday morning near Naracoorte.
The official Christmas road toll period runs from 12.01am December 23 to 11.59pm January 3, 2013.
