Comments on: 2007 road toll figures

By: Samanthaa

Samanthaa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:21:02 +0000

I believe if they want to save peoples lifes, why have a car that can do 240km when the max legal speed is 110??????

Having Cars that can only do 110 at the max would reduce the deaths on our roads i think!.

& also if the fat lazy pigs got off there ass’s and actually you know did there job are breatho people and drug test people would also help insted of sitting in their car with the camera on it.!

By: richie

richie — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:49:14 +0000

my 2 cents:

– make the value of the fine consider the financial income of the individual

i.e. this is not for profit but rather awareness to the population control which, obviously is the climate goal of the governments pursuit to their forever growing list of various fines

– notice the growth in population and you can see that their attempt is working but i think this is a large waste of tax dollars which we can use or at least attempt to save for the Australian economy

i say that last point because in case you are living a dream, getting “work” done in Australia is really expensive.

well, its our lives we play with – its up to the population to understand this.

By: John froTNT

John froTNT — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:05:06 +0000

I truely believe its all to do with money. If you was to reduce the amount of vehicle accidents on the roads by removing poor drivers, who would financially suffer the most?

Bad drivers are an economy, those who gain the most start at the top with the Judges and Lawyers (mostly pollies best friends), Insurance agents etc. many others that earn in between all the way down to the smash repairers, spare parts distributors and of course the tow truck drivers who all depend on bad drivers to help fill their pockets.

Many people stand to lose too much money if laws were made to remove the bad/incompetent drivers from the road, the unfortunate lives that are lost are the sacrafice made for the sake of one more dollar.

One thing that astounds me is we are all afraid of a Great White Shark, Saltwater Croc, King Brown Snake or a Funnel Web Spider but they not nearly kill as much as bad drivers do. We almost made the Great White become extinct from our fear of them. But we see a bad driver and think of it as the normal thing. Even though the chances are they will take your life or a loved one are much higher then any creature.

I was pulled over a couple of months ago in the work truck that was going uphill and lucky to hit the low 60k’s in a 60 zone. I had not more than half hour ago passed the police as I was going the opposite way back to the depot so I knew they were waiting there. I was passed by a speeding driver I thought the police for sure was going to book but they insisted pulling me over, I asked why did they pull me over for and was informed it was a truck check, I asked why he didnt he bother with the speeding motorist that wouldve been doing at least 80+k’s his answer was “We weren’t after him we were after you” with a smartass grin on his face. After me because truck fines are quite more substantial then normal car fines.

Its all Money before safety!

I could be wrong?

By: Fred

Fred — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:38:21 +0000

The Fed takes about 15 billion in fuel tax and GST each year but spends less than 3 billion on roads. If speed kills how come Germany got such a low death rate.

This is from South Africa.

German road death toll lowest in 55 years

February 26, 2008

Fewer people died on German roads in 2007 than at any time since 1953, the year in which the government began to keep records.

The Federal Statistics Office said the death toll, at 4970, was 2.4 percent lower than 2006 but the number of road injuries rose by 2.2 percent during the same period to 431 500

Safer cars meant fewer deaths – ADAC
.

The number of accidents also increased, by 2.7 percent to to 2.3-million.

Germany’s major motoring organisation, the ADAC, said better car crash protection features had helped to keep more people alive. Better roads, safer motorways and better driving instruction also contributed.

There are around 42-million cars in Germany’s – not counting the thousands that pass through daily en route to other countries across Europe.

South Africa’s annual road death toll is around 30 000 – Sapa-DPA

By: Robyn Mitchell

Robyn Mitchell — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:32:40 +0000

It is important that we know the road fatalities statistics, but I believe it is just as important for the road accident injury statistics to be published as well, with categories such as mild, serious, severe etc.. there are countless people who will never walk again, or are in vegetative states, severely brain damaged, terrible burns and amputations ad infinitum.. I think we do a disservice to those who have survived such horror smashes, especially when they are the victim of another person’s dangerously selfish driving.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:31:18 +0000

The NT removed the open speed limit and increased their road toll by 25%. What more proof did they need that the introduction of speed limits on major highways in the NT was nothing more than a grab for federal funding?

By: Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:12:33 +0000

Looking at the road crash statistics for South Australia for 2007, for these gave a good analysis of gender vs deaths…

58 drivers were killed in crashes, of whom 52 were male, and six female. Maybe if men drove more like women, the numbers would decline LOTS. I see (young) men driving like lunatics every day, but girls of a similar age seem quite responsible.

By: Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:09:11 +0000

Looking at the road crash statistics for South Australia for 2007, for these gave a good analysis of gender vs

By: David

David — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:01:56 +0000

^^^^^Different Davids

By: David

David — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:59:32 +0000

Their is a limit to what can be done to prevent deaths on the road & some expect the number to probably plateau around the current level.Those that continuously have an axe to grind in regard to enforcement issues should remember 1034 were killed on roads in Victoria alone in 1970.A campaign commenced & the road toll steadily decreased.Agree with Lee in part that for some it is pure luck & have saved myself a few times by hanging back, decreasing speed,awareness of blind spots of other drivers,driving according to road conditions & ensuring there is space around you.
This is what defensive driving should be about.
Some do not perceive hazards as others do & as such a percentage will be road toll fodder & any amount of retesting,defensive driving courses will not help them.
Relying on vehicle safety systems to reduce the toll is an admission of failure,you dont drive in a manner where these are deployed in the first place.
Autobahn style roads in Australia=TOLLS.

By: David

David — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 07:49:10 +0000

Dare I say all the ABS, traction control, stability control in modern cars is just dumbing down drivers? We need to learn how to drive to stay out of trouble rather than drive cars that will get us out of trouble due to our own stupididty or inattention. And take a serious look at smoking behind the wheel. Of all the people I have known to be involved in accidents in my 35 years on the road, lighting a smoke or reaching for cigarettes has resulted in a crash for about half.

By: Duck

Duck — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 07:19:37 +0000

The commy has hit a pole, u can tell if u look at the bonnet.

By: Spitfire

Spitfire — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 05:32:06 +0000

Of all the suggestions I have seen here the most stupid is that of re testing of drivers. This will not make one iota of difference and to suggest otherwise is naive and stupid.

By: Michael Campbell

Michael Campbell — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:59:40 +0000

The road toll is no surprise when responsible legislators display their lack of inteligence with the following snippets
Capping the speed limit in the NT which resulted in an immediate increase in road fatalities. Why? Dont have to concentrate anymore – the first requirement for a serious road accident.
NSW restricted new drivers to maximum 80KPH – immediate mobile traffic jams – a recipe for road rage and dangerous driving. Glad I dont drive for a living in NSW
Police just booked a QLD L plater and his father for displaying the L plate on the inside of the back window and not on the exterior of the car. Perhaps they couldn’t find anybody commiting more serious offences.
Sarina QLD police (not to be outdone by NSW) made the headlines by booking a girl in a Falcon ute because the tip of the wiper arm touched the “FORD” banner accross the top of her windscreen. She said she didn’t know she had to watch for low flying aircraft.
Until police are allowed to monitor all the bad habits so evident on our highways and not just the ones that generate Government revenue, and Governments introduce adequate driver training and improved road design, we will continue to see increased road trauma. Lets increase the “fatal four” to at least “10″

By: Owen

Owen — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:35:43 +0000

I applaud the various comments above. Significantly you cannot legislate for people to be forced to care – many don’t. Example – just the other day here in QLD a 29yo mother with 2 kids in the back caught drag racing a bike on a suburban street at considerably over the limit. This, texting at the wheel, one guy finishing his noodle box whilst doing 60 (including using chop sticks) just isn’t solved by legislation alone. We as road users have to go back to basics and just care about other road users. Judging by how many mobile phones are used during films, theatre and EVEN operas, I somehow think this is not the government’s job, it’s ours. Meanwhile, congratulations to the many (in the majority) who do drive responsibly. Continue to be a model of good driving so that some lesser drivers have at least something to emulate.

By: KimJ

KimJ — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:44:38 +0000

The story has forgotton to include the 2007 Tasmanian road toll of 47. When you include these 47 the 2007 National road toll was 1616, 11 more than 2006. At this stage all State & Territory 2007 figures are provisional, so the total could change again, but not by much. It is odds on that the 2007 total was an increase on 2006. The National road toll for 2004 was 1583, so we have gone backwards by 33 in the last three years. Considering the ongoing improvements in vehicle safety, both primary and secondary, and improvements in medical response times and treatment (keeping alive people who may have died in earlier years), this is a damning indictment of Australian road safety policies and strategies in general. Until politicians and police move away from their obsession with speed and concentrate on driver quality, the situation is unlikely to improve much if at all.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:29:06 +0000

I live in Brisbane and the driving here is quite bad. People rarely keep left on the freeway, using indicators seems to be a rarely used feature and tailgating is prolific.

To fix it we need to get back to the basics and reinforce the message that driving is a responsibility. It’s something you should be proud of, that common courtesy and respect goes along way in reducing the tension on the roads. Currently I get the impression from the majority of Brisbane drivers that driving is some sort of hassle that stops you from texting your mates.

I will continue to try and help by doing what I can. I’ll let people in, keep left and always indicate but this will all be done from my 5 star ANCAP car.

By: John of Perth

John of Perth — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:44:35 +0000

1. reduce(halve) no of demerits required to keep license
2. make driver retesting mandatory on a completely randomn basis so that drivers keep their knowledge of road rules up to date
3. For those States that don’t, introduce annual or bi-annual vehicle inspections
4. Make daytime running lights mandatory on country roads and change ADRs to interlock parking lights from being used when vehicle engine is running and vehicle is in motion
5. introduce mandatory advanced driver’s courses for all newly licensed drivers
6. Breath testing engine start interlocks for drink/drugs

Just my thoughts after covering nearly 2million k’s on Australian roads.

By: Albert Knowles

Albert Knowles — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:07:40 +0000

The main problem is poor driver behavior & the almost total lack of enforcement of the road rules. You can drive like a total loon on Victorian roads & unless you have a smash or a camera takes your pic you suffer no consequence. Police presence & the immediate enforcement of the road rules is required. Apart from the dreadful state of many vehicles on the road, no functioning brake lights, worn tires etc, lane changing on whim & tail gating are main concerns. When traveling at 100 kmh the distance between vehicles should be no less than 50 metres, but often the distance is less than 5 metres. Until the authorities get real about road safety & get the police out on the roads, 24 /7 then Victorian roads will continue to resemble the wild west.

By: Phillip

Phillip — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:33:23 +0000

The solution is to get cars off the road. Put in a high-speed train link from Sydney to Melbourne, stopping in Canberra and Albury on the way. If we had decent infrastructure in this country (like they have in Europe), people would use it.