The Central West cities with the most negligent drivers have been revealed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It comes as thousands of motorists across the region were rewarded as part of a state government demerit point return trial.
The scheme allowed drivers to have a demerit point removed if they maintained a clean driving record between January 17, 2023 and January 17, 2024.
Figures obtained by the Central Western Daily showed which LGAs out of Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo, Blayney and Cabonne, had the best behaved drivers both during the 12-month period and prior to.
The results showed that Blayney had the highest percentage of licence holders with at least one demerit point against their name at 27.51 per cent, followed closely by Bathurst with 27.29 per cent.
What arguably earned Bathurst the crown of having the worst drivers in the Central West, was how few were able to have a demerit point taken away compared to other LGAs.
Just 57.71 per cent of Bathurst license holders with demerit points were eligible for removal of point, compared to Blayney (59.45 per cent) and Orange (59.49 per cent) who ranked third and fourth.
As for the best drivers, Dubbo would have a strong case to make, with 22.77 per cent holding a demerit point compared to Cabonne in second with 24.67 per cent.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said the reward of a demerit point being removed would be meaningful to those people.
"Many people in regional NSW depend on driving for their livelihood or just to get around and often do not have public transport options at all," she added.
"This trial is unapologetically about encouraging safer driving and that's exactly what we need in the regions where we have a third of the state's population but more than two-thirds of all road fatalities.
"It's good to see thousands of drivers from Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo, Blayney and Cabonne are being rewarded for their safe driving."
Overall, more than 1.2 million drivers across the state qualified for the demerit point reward for maintaining a spotless record during the initial 12-month period.
Five of the top ten LGAs were in Sydney's west.
The LGAs of Blacktown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Liverpool, Parramatta, The Hills, Penrith and Fairfield, received a total of 290, 287 demerit points wiped.