Road safety minister Michelle Roberts urges drivers to slow down on rural roads

According to Ms Roberts, speed and fatigue are recurring factors in road crashes in regional Western Australia, where 190 people died in 2016.

"This week we want to increase understanding of the role that speed plays in crashes and encourage drivers to slow down and drive within the speed limits,” Ms Roberts said.

“Raising awareness about the dangers of speeding and enforcing speed limits are critical to saving lives on the roads and reducing the road toll.

“A large police presence on the roads throughout national road safety week will remind road users to stick to the speed limit and target dangerous and illegal driving behaviour.”

Since the start of the year, 33 people have died in the state’s regional roads and 24 on metropolitan ones.

National Road Safety Week 2017 will be held from May 8 and May 14 and will be focused on reducing speed.

This year’s event also coincides with the fourth UN Global Road Safety Week, which uses the tag line Save Lives #SlowDown to focus on reducing speed and other factors contributing to road crashes.

“Reducing your speed really can save lives,” Ms Roberts said.