Road Safety A Community Effort
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,
visiting 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 culturen 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,
visiting 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 culturen 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.