Road Safety Discussion

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  • 1.  Australian Fatalities fall to 5.0/100k population

    Posted 25-08-2014 11:02

    Thought this was worth sharing.
    There is still much to do in the road safety space in Australia, but this result validates everyone's effort to date.
    Pedestrians and cyclists remain a high risk group and continued efforts in trying to make them safer is important.


    https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/road_deaths_australia_monthly_bulletins.aspx



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    Rita Excell
    State Manager SA
    ARRB Group
    ADELAIDE SAau
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  • 2.  RE: Australian Fatalities fall to 5.0/100k population

    Posted 26-08-2014 11:07
    Thanks for that Rita.

    You might like to know that in Western Sydney the 3 year rolling average fatality rate is as low as 1.0 per 100k population in Holroyd LGA and 2.1 in Blacktown LGA. (ABS & Transport for NSW data)

    Measuing this another way, for every one million trips taken in 2012 in the Blacktown LGA there was only 16 tow-away crashes and 4 people injured.  In terms of fatalities, there was one fatality for every 32 million trips taken.  (ABS, Bureau of Transport Data &Transport for NSW data).

    Not surprising really with 50 kph urban speed limits, better Police technology, etc. 

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    David Tynan
    Road Safety Officer
    Blacktown City Council
    BEROWRA NSW
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  • 3.  RE: Australian Fatalities fall to 5.0/100k population

    Posted 27-08-2014 13:54
    Thanks all, some very interesting stats.
    As Iain mentions we don't get the whole picture.
    There are a number of easiliy obtainable fatality stats but not so many for, cost to the community, number of crashes, injury crashes, etc.

    Even frequent minor crashes impact on the community greatly. 
    I have tried to attach some stats that show a drop from 2011-2012 but this may not be the trend as it looks as though it was levelling out prior to that.


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    Adam Mularczyk
    Team Co-ordinator Development Engineering
    Wyong Shire Council
    WYONG NSW
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  • 4.  RE: Australian Fatalities fall to 5.0/100k population

    Posted 26-08-2014 11:09

    G'day,

    Fatalities decreasing is a good thing but I also wonder how the crash rate is going. It appears to me that drivers are still careless and crashing a lot but better designed cars, improved emergency response and medical treatment mean that more people survive a crash instead of die as they would have 20 years. Are there any reports that delve a bit deeper into that? How's the rate of permanent disability caused by road crashes going?

    Note that in the cycling crashes, various research (Monash & others) has shown that 75-85% of cases of bike Vs. car crashes or incidents it was the car driver at fault. Designers & asset owners need to properly provide for all road users instead of only thinking about cars as I see done far too often. There's too much ignorance and discrimination against pedestrians, cyclists and the disabled which is self-defeating. Traffic congestion would not be as bad & governments would save money in many ways (road construction, road maintenance, air pollution related illness and health. It's actually better for business too.) if more people walked or cycled instead of drove everywhere. I notice the ACT has a very low death/population rate. Doesn't Canberra have a very extensive network of pathways for cyclists and pedestrians? I wonder how their bike & pedestrian crash rates & participation rates are compared to other areas who do not have good pathway provision?

    Qld and some other states allow footpath cycling. While some pedestrians will always complain about cyclists, (complaining about cyclists seems to be one of the last remaining forms of acceptable discrimination in this country) the reported bike Vs. pedestrian crashes in my area are very low even though footpath usage by slower bikes (not the lycra racers) is high. I wonder if fewer people would die or be injured and if more people would be game to cycle instead of drive if the southern states would allow footpath cycling as per the model Australian Road Rules?

    Regards

    Iain Cummings

    City of Gold Coast

     




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  • 5.  RE: Australian Fatalities fall to 5.0/100k population

    Posted 26-08-2014 19:16
    It's good to see fatalities falling, but just how much of this change is due to current downturn in economic activity and particularly the movement of the 'Baby Boomer' population surge into the low accident stage of life ?? John Gould
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  • 6.  RE: Australian Fatalities fall to 5.0/100k population

    Posted 27-08-2014 13:53
    John

    Interesting question about the Baby Boomer effect.  I think part of the answer started to show up in the mid 1990's with young drivers. 
    For example, here in Blacktown the involvement of alcohol in fatal crashes for 17-25 year old drivers (3 year rolling avge) began to decline from 1996 and staibilised in about 2005. 
    Also, the towaway and casualty crash rate overall began to decline in 1998, 2 years before the hew Learner and P Plate regulations started.
    To add a bit more intrigue to the story, the other changes in Learner hours and P Plate restrictions also do not show a step change i n the crash rate for this age group where alcohol is involved.
    And all this improvement is happening with an increase in the number of young drivers in the LGA.
    To add more mystery, the crash rate for 30-60 year old drivers peaked beteen 2008-2011.
    We have no idea why these trends have occured.
    The economic changes have no step change correlation with any of the trends.
    Something else is happening that we haven't figured out yet. 

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    David Tynan
    Road Safety Officer
    Blacktown City Council
    BEROWRA NSW
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