Record LOW road toll

[DiscoMick]

Here's a good new motoring story for a change - road fatalities have hit a record low.


Australia's road toll at record low | World news | theguardian.com (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/australias-road-toll-at-record-low)


No comment in the story on the reasons. I suspect the major factors would be:


Improved roads. For example, how many lives have been saved by the rebuilding of the Pacific Highway - must be thousands.


Improved crash safety of cars.


Breath testing of drivers.


I wouldn't give any credit at all to fining people for going less than about 10 km/h over the speed limit as I doubt if it makes much difference, but I do support throwing the book at people who do really excessive speeds.


What do you think?

[Tote]

Maybe economic conditions have as much to do with it as anything else, it would be interesting to see the results of a survey detailing how many kilometres people drove in the last year.

Regards,
Tote

[JDNSW]

This appears to be a continuation of a trend that has been going on for many years. I agree that road improvements represent a major factor (you only have to look at the difference in accident rates where major highways have been duplicated, such as the Hume in NSW and the Pacific), as is continuing breath testing (and the introduction of drug testing may also have had an effect).

I am doubtful whether crash safety has had much effect - the reduction in average size of new cars has probably countered these effects.

The increase in over 65s may simply reflect the increasing number of them, and the fact that they are mostly healthier than ever before, and hence driving more, walking more, and generally out and about. Or it may be simply statistical noise.

John

[Redback]

Maybe Hocking was right, poor people aren't driving as much:p

[Greatsouthernland]

I read 17-25 year olds made up 48% of the statistics. Perhaps better driver education and longer times on P plates and log books etc have helped?

Or this age group is spending less time on the road, instead staying home on Facebook etc.

The increase in Landrovers on the roads has also helped ;)

[Bigbjorn]

My opinion- seat belts, change in community attitude to drunk driving, roads, tyres, brakes and handling, collapsible steering column (removed the "spear aimed at the driver's heart" as once known).

Highest pro rata road toll was in the early 60's. Been going down ever since.

[JDNSW]

I read 17-25 year olds made up 48% of the statistics. Perhaps better driver education and longer times on P plates and log books etc have helped?

Or this age group is spending less time on the road, instead staying home on Facebook etc.

The increase in Landrovers on the roads has also helped ;)

Measured against population, number of cars, mileage driven, the number of road deaths has decreased ever since the start of collecting statistics, give or take year to year "noise". In light of this, it would be a surprise if each year did not show a new low.

Over the years, the only safety initiatives that can definitely be linked to reductions in deaths are the introduction of compulsory seat belts and the introduction of random breath tests.

Even in the case of these initiatives, it is likely that at least part of the change was not so much due to the initiative, but due to the change in the general consensus attitude towards road safety that allowed these initiatives to happen. (e.g. drink driving ceased to be "cool")

John

[DiscoMick]

Yeah, I should have mentioned seat belts - I guess I just took that for granted.
Maybe also airbags.
Not sure about the big vs small car argument though. I think I'd rather crash in the Yaris with its airbags than in the old Disco - I'm not even sure if its airbags still work.

[Greatsouthernland]

Seat belts were around long before, but it became law for them to be worn in 1971. We were years ahead of the US in this regard.

[cripesamighty]

I recall reading this many years ago and very little has changed numbers wise.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NMAA/conversations/messages/33358

[JDNSW]

Yeah, I should have mentioned seat belts - I guess I just took that for granted.
Maybe also airbags.
Not sure about the big vs small car argument though. I think I'd rather crash in the Yaris with its airbags than in the old Disco - I'm not even sure if its airbags still work.

Airbags make only a marginal difference in most cases where seatbelts are worn. And I am afraid if your Disco and a Yaris collided, you are a lot better off in the Disco even if the airbags did not work. Of course, in a collision with a B-double or a bridge abutment or tree, it does not matter which you are in - you are almost certainly dead, airbags or not. Airbags extend the margin of survival a small amount beyond what seatbelts do, but the margin is small, and will cover only a relatively few accidents.

Other vehicle factors are likely to be more important, particularly those that affect the probability of an accident in the first place or its severity, but also the simple physics that in an collision between a light and heavy vehicle, there will be more damage to the small vehicle.

MUARC research shows no overall correlation between deaths/injuries and safety features, although there is a correlation between these features and deaths/injuries if you only look at accidents that have actually occurred.

John

[JDNSW]

I recall reading this many years ago and very little has changed numbers wise.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NMAA/conversations/messages/33358

Of course, the problem with this study is that it assumes that accidents have a single cause - and all serious accident investigators know that there are multiple factors contributing to any accident. (have a look at any aviation accident investigation)

But lawyers, as opposed to anyone trying to solve problems, like single causes, so that they can assign blame!

John

[Greatsouthernland]

Also contributing are the stability control systems and collision avoidance technology slowly becoming a significant representation of the number of vehicles on the road (have I mentioned in other threads how many cool features are in the Merc GL so similarly priced to the Disco HSE? :( such as corrective steering and braking)

I saw signs on the Hume Hwy when off to the sleet last school hols, suggesting people switch to vehicles with collision avoidance technology.

[101RRS]

New tonight has the NSW Roads Minister is seriously considering upgrading some 110 areas like sections of the Hume highway to 120kph.

These sort of roads should be even higher, say 130kph.

Garry

[DiscoMick]

I was just assuming if I crashed the Disco badly enough the steering column would impale my chest.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

ABS Statistics
Passenger vehicles per 1000 people in Australia
1955 = 153 2013 568

Passenger vehicle use
71% used a passenger vehicle to travel to work. (16% took public transport)

Passenger vehicles by Household 2011

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/95553f4ed9b60a374a2568030012e707/a0949e15c9055f7dca257cf40015f2be/Body/1.27E2!OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif

Passenger vehicles by State 2013

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachments/general-chat/82361d1408421550-record-low-road-toll-state-ownership.jpg

Road Transport Deaths 2011
51% of all deaths were occupants of cars.
72.4% male
median age at death for males 39.9 years
median age at death for females 44.7 years.

Source ABS: 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, July 2013 (http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features40July+2013)

[JDNSW]

I was just assuming if I crashed the Disco badly enough the steering column would impale my chest.

"Safety" steering columns have been around a long time (1955 Citroen DS is the earliest I know of), and all post Series Landrovers have them - for that matter, Series columns are fairly safe due to their angle and short length.

These have been mandated by ADRs since around 1980, long before the Discovery, and combined with a properly fastened seat belt provide almost as much protection as an airbag.

John

[101RRS]

I was just assuming if I crashed the Disco badly enough the steering column would impale my chest.

Not likely as steering column safety have been in place since the late 60s.

More of a worry for a Disco I is that crash testing of non airbag models showed you will loose your legs at the knees and the safety of airbag models only met the same safety standards of non airbag cars (not 4wds) of the same time.

When ordering my 94Disco I looked at the crash reports to help me determine if I should get the then optional airbags - $3500 at side at the time. I did get them but it was often in the back of my mind.

Garry