Road Safety - A Community Effort
Every week, 10 of our friends, neighbours, family members
or work mates start a journey they never
complete.Every week,more than 500 people suffer injury on the way to or from work, home,
visitig friends, going shopping, doing what they expect to be able to do safely.
On local roads, the 50km/h Urban Speed Limit Program has reduced the number of
crashes.
However, while there have been major long-term reductions
in the number of fatalities in some areas, there has been some increases in country
road fatalities.
Speeding and driver fatigue,
particularly amongst young drivers, and failure to wear seatbelts
continue to be road safety problems and are the major contributors to the annual
road toll.
We need to change people’s attitude to speeding, driving
while fatigued and not wearing seatbelts to achieve a similar change of culture
to reduce the road toll.
The over-representation of novice drivers in accident
statistics requires a new approach to be taken to ensure that novice drivers do
not progress to an unrestricted license. Novice drivers must demonstrate greater
knowledge about road conditions and have had more experience behind the
wheel.
The RTA must also work with the police and courts to
develop initiatives that have greater impact on repeat offenders. Such
initiatives could require repeat offenders to be ordered by the court to
undertake road safety education
courses, or have specific devices such as alcohol interlocks fitted to their
vehicles.
Improvements to date have been achieved through a
collective approach between State, regional and local stakeholders working in
partnership in the planning and delivery of road safety programs to the
community.
In recognition of the important ongoing role of Local
Government, the State Government must continue its strong support for road
safety initiatives such as the 50km/h speed limit program for council
controlled roads.
The future focus
To achieve our goal of having the safest roads in the world, all Governments must pursue a range of
initiatives in three essential areas:
• Safer people
• Safer roads
• Safer vehicles.
Better community understanding of road safety issues and solutions is important in achieving our
goal.
Every week, 10 of our friends, neighbours, family members
or work mates start a journey they never
complete.Every week,more than 500 people suffer injury on the way to or from work, home,
visitig friends, going shopping, doing what they expect to be able to do safely.
On local roads, the 50km/h Urban Speed Limit Program has reduced the number of
crashes.
However, while there have been major long-term reductions
in the number of fatalities in some areas, there has been some increases in country
road fatalities.
Speeding and driver fatigue,
particularly amongst young drivers, and failure to wear seatbelts
continue to be road safety problems and are the major contributors to the annual
road toll.
We need to change people’s attitude to speeding, driving
while fatigued and not wearing seatbelts to achieve a similar change of culture
to reduce the road toll.
The over-representation of novice drivers in accident
statistics requires a new approach to be taken to ensure that novice drivers do
not progress to an unrestricted license. Novice drivers must demonstrate greater
knowledge about road conditions and have had more experience behind the
wheel.
The RTA must also work with the police and courts to
develop initiatives that have greater impact on repeat offenders. Such
initiatives could require repeat offenders to be ordered by the court to
undertake road safety education
courses, or have specific devices such as alcohol interlocks fitted to their
vehicles.
Improvements to date have been achieved through a
collective approach between State, regional and local stakeholders working in
partnership in the planning and delivery of road safety programs to the
community.
In recognition of the important ongoing role of Local
Government, the State Government must continue its strong support for road
safety initiatives such as the 50km/h speed limit program for council
controlled roads.
The future focus
To achieve our goal of having the safest roads in the world, all Governments must pursue a range of
initiatives in three essential areas:
• Safer people
• Safer roads
• Safer vehicles.
Better community understanding of road safety issues and solutions is important in achieving our
goal.
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