The road toll is on the rise again. It follows nearly two decades of falls. In 1981 the Australia-wide toll was a shocking 3321, falling to a low of 1760 in 1997. Since then, different states have had different experiences, but in the two most populous states, the situation looks fairly grim in 2000. Victoria and NSW both already have a higher toll so far this year, than all of last year. Interestingly, both have adopted a similar tactic this year – advertisements that are designed to shock.
This week NSW launched advertisements through the eyes of a boy filming a home video from a car’s back seat. Victoria’s campaign will concentrate on drink-driving. Victoria will also place a Christmas tree on the steps of Parliament House and dim a light for every road death.
Both these campaigns have some merit. It seems no single approach is effective indefinitely. Rather, the toll seems to fall when authorities change emphasis or add a new weapon to the fight against road trauma. Perhaps some complacency crept in around 1997 after long stretch of successful campaigns: seat belts, Breathalyzers, radar, speed and red-light cameras and double demerit points. There were even some foolish suggestions that, at 1760, Australia had taken the toll as low as could ever be expected. Not so. Australia should aim for zero road deaths. A road death should be an unusual, extraordinary thing, not something commonplace. We need a change of attitude away from present acceptance of nearly 2000 dead Australians being an acceptable price for the convenience of road transport.
In the lead-up to Christmas, it is important for police and road-traffic authorities to keep up the pressure. There is much to be gained. Much suffering, pain and injury can be avoided. Much economic loss prevented. The gains far outstrip the costs. True, some relatively blameless drivers will be caught as police get more active over the holiday period. Some drivers with excellent driving records will get caught doing a few kilometres an hour over the limit will get hit with a fine and loss of points. It may alienate some against the effort to reduce the road toll. It may cause some to wonder whether police resources are being well-directed when they see patently unsafe driving going undetected by police and unpunished. Nonetheless, the apparent unfairness is a price worth paying if lives can be saved.
The human factor remains by far the most significant cause of road death. The NSW Minister for Transport, Carl Scully, in launching the new advertisements, said speeding was a factor in 38 per cent of deaths, fatigue in 20 per cent, not wearing seat belts in 19 and alcohol in 17 per cent. That leaves 6 per cent to be put down to non-human factors like mechanical failure or unavoidable factors.
Driver attitude is critical. And a survey a couple of months ago by AAMI insurance revealed that young males are especially culpable in road accidents. They had 18.5 claims per 100 policies. Females in the same age group had 13.7 claims and drivers aged 51 to 64 had just 7.8 claims. Not enough is being done to curb the aggression of young male drivers. It is not just a question of getting them to obey the law. Violent acceleration to the speed limit is lawful but stupid. Racing through intersections and roundabouts at the speed limit is reckless. Assuming that every other driver will give way when they are supposed to defies experience. Young male drivers have to be taught moderation and defensive driving. Insurance premiums and excess payments that reflect the risk would help. As a society we should not tolerate a situation where young male drivers — who presumably have better reflexes, higher fitness, better eyesight and better hearing than those over 50 – have three times the accident rate.
This has got to be the next target in pursuit of a zero road toll.