Shine a light for road trauma on December 10

By Tim Beissmann | December 04th, 2009

Premier John Brumby has encouraged Victorian drivers to “Shine a Light on Road Trauma” by turning on their headlights on December 10 as a gesture to remember those who have died on the road and to show a commitment to reducing road trauma.

Next Thursday marks 20 years since the first Transport Accident Commission (TAC) advertisement went to air, and since then 8200 people have died on Victoria’s roads.

Mr Brumby outlined that 3740 were drivers, 1872 passengers, 1500 pedestrians, 955 motorcyclists and 238 cyclists, and added that more than 130,000 have been seriously injured.

“We need the community’s help to reduce these devastating numbers,” he said.

“Drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians can all play a part in being responsible when on the roads.

“I call on all Victorians to turn on their headlights on Thursday 10 December to show your commitment to reducing road trauma.”

Mr Brumby said the Victorian Government was committed to its road safety target set out in the Arrive Alive strategy, which aims to cut the road toll and reduce serious injuries by 30 per cent by 2017.

“Victoria Police are dedicating more resources than ever before to fight the road toll.

“The Government is supporting police with new measures to help enforce the road rules and enhanced campaigns to remind motorists of the dangers on the roads,” he said.

Combined with enforcement and supporting the work of its Victorian road safety partners, the TAC’s public education campaigns have helped reduce the road toll from 776 in 1989 to 303 in 2008, despite a significant increase in the number of vehicles on the road.

Yonny

There’s no doubt that road trauma is, by definition, traumatic. Like most people, I suspect, I have had a few family members and friends who have been in severe accidents. Some didn’t survive. It certainly makes you think. And I do think a lot about car accidents, the causes of them, driving in general, licencing and the enforcement of road rules.

And this is where I start to wonder at just what John Brumby is hoping to achieve with his no doubt well-intentioned headlights on campaign.

It will never happen of course, but perhaps the premier could start thinking about whether the Victorian government’s grossly simplistic approach to road safety is really working. I’m talking of course about the emphasis on speeding.

In Victoria you can be booked for exceeding the posted speed limit by even a tiny amount – a speed difference that could quite literally be accounted for by the difference in the rolling diameter of your tyres on a hot day as compared to the same tyres on a cold day. Is that common sense?

In Victoria, a motorcyclist had to go to court and fight a speeding fine he copped while accelerating out of the path of an imminent collision. In other words, he was doing what all good drivers know must be done occasionally – slow down or speed up to avoid an accident. That’s common sense.

In Victoria, various speed cameras have been proven to be faulty, yet the government fights tooth and nail every accusation, and will assert what every sensible person knows cannot be true – the machines never make mistakes.

I am deeply suspicious of the willingness of all state governments to focus on cars exceeding an arbitrarily set speed limit as I suspect that it has more to do with revenue, coupled with the fact that it is cheaper to mail out tickets than it is to fund police patrols.

I am doubly suspicious of the Victorian government because, after being truly world-leading nearly 40 years ago when they introduced mandatory seat belts, they have obviously longed for some new silver bullet for the road toll. They aren’t going to find it, because they are looking in the wrong places.

I think that government emphasis on speed limit enforcement at the expense of other factors (driver training and aptitude, drug and alcohol use, poor quality roads) almost amounts to an abdication of their duty to improve road safety.

I am afraid they are going to end up forcing us to have satellite-controlled speed limiters fitted to our cars (being trialled in the Illawarra in NSW at present) so we can’t exceed the speed limit. But at the same time, I almost wouldn’t mind, because then, when the road toll does NOT plummet, the emperor will finally be seen to have no clothes.

It may or may not be relevant that in all of the severe accidents my family and various friends have had, speed was not a factor – it was plain inattention and driver distraction. Where’s the camera for that?
Car Fanatic

Perhaps if they actually spent money on the roads that needed it, we wouldn’t have them coming up with ideas that make little. A company in the UK actually took the time to give give roads star safety ratings and produced a map for drivers to use so they could change their driving habits on those particular roads. Perhaps we need a star rating for our roads, then spend more money upgrading 1 and 2 star roads to make them safer for incompetent drivers.

scottwheels

Or better yet, spend the money to upgrade the incompetent drivers!

shak

I actually think that Car Fanatic has a very good idea. An independent body could conduct research and then make a websit so that every driver knew. We would avoid dangerous roads all together and when the government realises they would either remove them or upgrade them.

MK

If you vote for them, you pay for them.
Valet Dabess

well by 2015 maybe, no one’s gonna be able to drive cars cause they’ll just keep on comming up with stupid rules and getting your p’s will pretty much be impossible. and even if you do get it you’ll lose it straight away cause road rules are gonna be so strict
UMWAHT

maybe they should just get rid of the road rules all together and let it be survival of the fittest

drive however you want maybe you’ll die maybe you wont who really cares anymore at least it would make buying groceries much more fun
http://www.learnerstest.com.au Shaun McGowan

Road Safety is massive issue, I think more needs to be done to target drivers as they are studying for their drivers licence. When studying for your drivers licence I think a classroom module component on road trauma, speed, alcohol should all be mandatory components which make up getting your L’s.

Lachlan

I agree, and i also think that every new driver should attend a defensive driving course.

UMWAHT

dont you people get it that drivers already know these things?? any idiot knows that drink driving is dangerous, and that speeding is risky, they just choose to do it anyway
http://roadtraumarecovery.org.au Jamie Robinson

Well done to the TAC for it’s continued media campaign on road safety. Some of the comments raised here a very valid.
Upgrading road infrastructure is certainly one way of making our roads safer.

I like the idea of introducing perhaps a module in the classroom on the effects of road trauma. I know some organizations already participate actively in this area of visiting schools. I wonder how it could be worked into the syllabus?

Umwhat makes the point about people already know all this stuff. That is absolutely 100% correct. The problem is how to change peoples driving mindset. This is a hugely complex issue. I know the TAC and the state government battle with this constantly.
Media campaigns are a way of bringing it to the forefront of peoples minds so when they hop in the car they may just remember to drive safely.

Recently I attended a community forum on road safety where the community put there views and ideas to a panel made up of representatives from the TAC, Vicroads and government. The ideas were interesting and will be used to form part of the arrive strategy moving forward.

Can the government do things better? Well from my nearly ten years of being involved in road trauma I know they are always looking at ways to improve outcomes.

My personal feeling is that it is the community itself that can know add to the various campaigns on road safety and become actively engaged in reducing the road toll. Remember that the next person lost on our roads could be your mother, father, brother, sister, or child. How would you feel? Your response might be if only!

Take care on our roads over Christmas and the New Year