NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said it's clear more investment into road quality and safety is needed in regional areas, after alarming statistics into the prevalence and cost of accidents in Orange and the Central West were revealed.

Between the start of 2014 and the end of 2018 there has been almost 1,000 vehicle crashes in the Orange region which cost a total of almost $150 million, according to a report based on the NRMA's Rate Your Road survey.

The survey began in 2019 and asked members of the community to rate the condition and safety of roads in the region, as a means of putting pressure on state and federal governments to priortise the issue and increase investment.

The results highlight an indisputable link between road quality and safety which, in Mr Khoury's words, provide 'a wake-up call that investment in road safety infrastructure for the regions should not be an afterthought'.

"Despite record breaking levels of road infrastructure investment there is still a lot more to do in the regions," he said.

"We want the focus to be on improving road conditions and safety and that's really what we're hearing from motorists through this survey."

The report shows 899 accidents occurred in the Orange region during that five-year period, with eight of those being fatal.

In 341 accidents people sustained injuries with 82 of those being defined as 'serious', while there was 209 accidents where no injuries were sustained.

As a means of comparison there was almost 1,300 crashes in the Bathurst area, despite the fact that area has a total road length (sealed and unsealed) almost three times that of Orange. Those crashes in Bathurst cost a total of almost $300 million.

Those who took part in the survey gave roads in the Orange region a total condition score of 46.54 out of 100, a congestion score of 58.14 and an overall safety score of just 41.44.

Although the safety score was slightly lower than Bathurst it proved to be middle ground in terms of the Central West and the rest of the regional areas covered, for instance Lithgow's safety rating was just 34.95.

Those ratings extended to highways in the region too.

Those who took part in the survey gave the Great Western Highway an overall condition score of 57.4 out of 100, a congestion score of 50.8 and a safety score of 53.8.

The Mitchell Highway fared worse, earning an overall condition score of 54.3, a congestion score of 48.1 and a safety score of 47.

The Great Western Highway received a better safety score than the Newell Highway, Olympic Highway and Orange's Northern Distributor Road, but not as good a safety score as the Hume Highway.

The NRMA said that, since it had launched its Rate Your Road campaign, the organisation had successfully advocated for almost $2 billion in new road funding from the NSW and Australian governments, including funding during COVID-19 to keep projects moving and support employment.

The NRMA said the NSW Government had also committed to transfer up to 15,000 kilometres of council-managed regional roads to the NSW Government to lessen the financial burden on those councils.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: