The ACT has the lowest road death rate to population of any state or territory, yet it apparently has the worst driver attitude in the country. The former is easily measurable. The latter comes out of a survey by AAMI insurance which revealed that ACT drivers were more willing to speed or run orange or red lights than interstate counterparts.
Oddly, the two things might be linked. The ACT has excellent roads. It has very low population density and therefore low traffic volumes. It has low rainfall compared to most other capitals, making driving conditions on the whole better. It has higher income levels resulting in a newer, safer car fleet. In short, driving in the ACT has low apparent risk for damage to life, limb and property. It means that the ACT road toll is lower per head of population than elsewhere.
Further, the apparent risk of being fined or banned from driving might be lower than elsewhere. Police presence in the ACT does not appear as strong as in NSW or Victoria, though the evidence for that is sketchy. Certainly the AFP Association bemoans low resource levels. The low police presence adds to the low overall risk for drivers in the ACT.
The AAMI survey reveals that this lower apparent risk is translating into poor driver attitude. Drivers think it is safer in the ACT so they immediately transfer all of the benefit in the low-risk conditions into getting to their destination more quickly, rather than translating it in getting there more safely. It seems ACT drivers are abusing the good conditions. Sure, the death toll is still lower than elsewhere, but it is not as low as it should be for these wonderful driving conditions.
Indeed, driving conditions in the ACT are so good it is difficult to see why anyone should die on our roads.
It is welcome therefore that the ACT Government is thinking of speed and red-light cameras. These will increase the risk of driving in the ACT in a benign way. The risk will be fines and demerit points. Its seems that a higher risk of something nasty is the only thing some drivers will respond to. Better the something nasty be fines than death or injury.