The Cost of Crashes report looked at vehicle accidents in the five-year period from 2011 to 2015.

It found Illawarra crashes cost the state economy $878 million – this was down from almost $1.1 billion from the 2006-10 period.

There was also a fall in the regional road toll between those two periods – from 151 to 121.

However, the NRMA’s local director Marisa Mastroianni noted the road toll had surged in 2015 and 2016.

“The Cost of Crashes report highlights that the Illawarra has made some progress in reducing the number of lives lost on our roads over the five-year period of the report which is positive,” Ms Mastroianni said.

“However, after a record low year for lives lost in 2014 we have seen unwanted spikes in 2015 and 2016 and this is clearly something that we need to address as a community.”

Across the state in 2011-2015 crashes cost the economy almost $36 billion, a drop of 8 per cent on the previous period.

There was also a 20 per cent drop in the road toll between the two five-year spans.

The NRMA said this decrease was due to increased spending on roads and a rise in the number of cars with five stars under the Australian New Car Assessment Program.

“Fighting to deliver safer mobility for our members is at the heart of NRMA’s advocacy and we are pleased that there has been a significant fall on the Princes Highway, a road that has received funding upgrades off the back of lobbying by the NRMA,” Ms Mastroianni said.