WA's 2013 road toll second lowest on record, but still 'too high' WA's 2013 road toll, at 163 deaths, is the second lowest on record. File Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Limited WESTERN Australia's road toll for 2013 was the second lowest on record. Police figures show 163 people died on WA's roads last year, one more than the record low in 2005. The number of deaths was 19 fewer than in 2012, but road safety campaigners said WA's fatality rate was still higher than the national average. Yesterday, an elderly Victorian tourist died when the car she was in skidded off a Kimberley highway and hit a tree. The 73-year-old woman was with a 74-year-old man when their hire car, a Mazda two-door hatch, was heading along Victoria Highway, near the intersection of Lake Argyle Road turn-off, near Kununurra. The vehicle entered a floodway and appears to have aqua-planned and hit a tree at about 2pm. The pair was taken to Kununurra District Hospital. The woman died a short time later. Late this morning, a motorcyclist died after a crash in Ascot. Police confirmed that the rider of the motorcycle has died after suffering serious injuries in the crash near the corner of Tonkin Highway and Great Eastern Highway shortly before noon. Meanwhile, the RAC helicopter has returned from Harvey after a man became trapped in a car with head injuries, after crashing into a tree on South Western Highway just after midday. And in Merredin, shortly before 1pm, a cyclist suffered possible head and spinal injuries after falling from their bike at the corner of Cumming Street and Dobson Avenue. Sharp drop in regional road deaths Based on WA's population of 2.5m, the 163 road deaths amounts to about 6.4 fatalities per 100,000 people - the lowest rate WA has seen since 1950, the RAC said. Deaths on regional roads dropped from 93 in 2012 to 73 last year. However, the RAC said road fatalities in regional WA remains unacceptably high at 14 per 100,000 people, compared to five per 100,000 for the metropolitan area. "Western Australia's fatality rate has been dropping since the start of 2011, and while this year appears to be a continuation of that trend, it must be put into context as WA's fatality rate is still higher than the national average," RAC general manager corporate affairs Will Golsby said. Now is not the time to be complacent. As a community, we need to ensure we do everything we can to help continue to bring Western Australia's road fatality rate down.