48,000 Dead on our Roads

[Fatso]

According to the ABC news there has been 48000 Deaths on our roads since 1989 , comes as bit of a shock when presented with these numberes , i was going to make a point but i just can not put any words to it......... . Sad .

[Ean Austral]

Very Sad indeed. - 48,000 too many. Feel sorry for the emergency workers who have to endure this senseless killing. I wonder how many of them have had to give up work due to seeing that much carnage.

They were saying on the radio the other night , over 100,000 per year killed on the roads in India. I wondered if that was a mistake but then I just watched how taxi's drive and I come to believe its very possible.

Cheers Ean

[CraigE]

According to the ABC news there has been 48000 Deaths on our roads since 1989 , comes as bit of a shock when presented with these numberes , i was going to make a point but i just can not put any words to it......... . Sad .

What can you say to that if true stats.[bigsad]

[Bytemrk]

Those numbers look about right.... but sadly typical of much reporting today, only tell half the story.

It seems they pick a long enough time frame to get to a number impressive enough to support their point - Why pick 1989?... 28 years ago?

While the numbers are still too big, if they had taken, for example a 10 year period - it would have been just under 13,000.

The last decade the road toll has been significantly better than the first decade from '89

List of motor vehicle deaths in Australia by year - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_Australia_by_year)

It's all about how you present the numbers to support your point of view....

It's a pity in my view that the ABC didn't use the stats to point out that over the last X years we have made some significant improvements.... but there is more work to be done.

You might notice that 2017 was one of the lowest rates per 100,000 head of population on record.....but that didn't make the news.[wink11]

[bsperka]

According to the ABC news there has been 48000 Deaths on our roads since 1989 , comes as bit of a shock when presented with these numberes , i was going to make a point but i just can not put any words to it......... . Sad .This number is sobering, but according to ABS figures about the same number die each year from accidental falls.
Intentional self harm numbers are higher.

[Fatso]

This number is sobering, but according to ABS figures about the same number die each year from accidental falls.
Intentional self harm numbers are higher.

Yes and probably a lot more from illness etc they are things that not a lot can be done to prevent , on the other hand most of the road deaths were preventable or caused by neglegent drivers as apposed to an actual real vehicle acident . It just gets on my goat that so many people die on our roads needlessly , the only people that can do anything about it is the road users themselves , but i wont hold my breath .

[Homestar]

Yes and probably a lot more from illness etc they are things that not a lot can be done to prevent , on the other hand most of the road deaths were preventable or caused by neglegent drivers as apposed to an actual real vehicle acident . It just gets on my goat that so many people die on our roads needlessly , the only people that can do anything about it is the road users themselves , but i wont hold my breath .

Yes, preventable - but how? How do you get through to those that don't take care on the roads? They think it won't happen to them, same as most of us when we were younger I suppose. Nothings changed there IMO.

As autonomous vehicles become the norm, the toll will drop - only way it's going to happen I think.

[PAT303]

People die every day from hundreds of different causes,it happens. Pat

[Tombie]

Lets have some more sobering facts..
I’d be much more concerned by the Mental health issues.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/962.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/963.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/964.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/965.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/966.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/967.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/968.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/969.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/01/970.jpg

[Tombie]

For the data people out there...

Some files to filter and crunch:

Australian Road Deaths Database (https://bitre.gov.au/statistics/safety/fatal_road_crash_database.aspx)

[Gordie]

What sets us aside from robots, is that we are risk takers by nature, we are constantly making judgements throughout our day, assessing and reassessing situations without even knowing it...making split second decisions. Sometimes we are going to get it wrong. And when we are in a steel box hurtling past other steel boxes or obstacles at any speed above standstill, deaths will result from said decisions. More and more of those steel boxes on the road every year. Road toll will never reduce greatly, let alone be zero. Accept it. As alluded to on other posts, there are other things that kill us, which we can achieve reductions in.

[Tombie]

We should never accept it...
(Spot the WHS hat)

We should always strive to reduce the number...Complacency is our biggest killer.

We need to understand the risks. And educate.. in this case not by overwhelming government intervention though...

Officially over 90% of MVIs and deaths are a product of the smallest of errors in judgement; not DUI or speed. Simple things, a sneeze, telling the kids off, changing a radio, something distracting off to the side of the road etc.

Out here another factor is fatigue. We do a lot of work around managing fatigue.

Tonight my 30 person Crew will be operating mobile equipment weighting up to 120t each. If the fatigue management isn’t in place bad things can happen!

[vnx205]

We should never accept it...
(Spot the WHS hat)

We should always strive to reduce the number...Complacency is our biggest killer.
... .... ...



I suspect that the way our minds work we would consider a reduction of just one was worthwhile if that one was someone we loved.

A reduction of 100 strangers would be less important.

I'm not arguing about whether that is good or bad, but I'm pretty sure our brains are hardwired to think that way.

One of the recent TV road safety ads is based on that notion.

[Eevo]

approx 3000 each year die from suicide. never do you see that on the news.

[Fatso]

approx 3000 each year die from suicide. never do you see that on the news.

They are killing themselves , not some innocent party taken out in a road crash through no fault of their own .

[Tombie]

They are killing themselves , not some innocent party taken out in a road crash through no fault of their own .

Most road deaths are single vehicle.

[Bigbjorn]

Road deaths cane be easily reduced. It would take an act of great political courage and the government probably would not survive the next election.

"A most courageous decision, Prime Minister" in the immortal words of Sir Humphrey.

Introduce much stiffer driver's licence testing and retest every 10 years. A skid pad test to be included and a written examination on road rules and safe driver behaviour.

In a decade probably two thirds of drivers would be delicensed

This would produce great savings in that extensive road works would no longer be required. The savings to be used to improve public transport to cope with the influx of non-drivers.

[Tombie]

Agree with higher levels of training and assessment.

However, as evidence states - over 90% of deaths by MVI are through a “brain fart” / distraction / lapse.

[Gordie]

Not to mention that the lack of a licence doesn't necessarily stop the feral population amongst us from driving.

[Tombie]

Not to mention that the lack of a licence doesn't necessarily stop the feral population amongst us from driving.

Lack of social “conscience” and “contract” is a primary issue in Australia.

Take Thailand - less than 50% on the roads have a licence.. not uncommon to see a 12 yr old ride out of school with a couple of mates on their scooter etc..

What they do have is understanding of responsibility and tolerance..

Not a lot of accidents over there considering the way the roads are..

[Gordie]

Lack of social “conscience” and “contract” is a primary issue in Australia.Exactly, the me-me-me culture.

[trog]

Road deaths cane be easily reduced. It would take an act of great political courage and the government probably would not survive the next election.

"A most courageous decision, Prime Minister" in the immortal words of Sir Humphrey.

Introduce much stiffer driver's licence testing and retest every 10 years. A skid pad test to be included and a written examination on road rules and safe driver behaviour.

In a decade probably two thirds of drivers would be delicensed

This would produce great savings in that extensive road works would no longer be required. The savings to be used to improve public transport to cope with the influx of non-drivers.

Wasn't there a thread bemoaning the fact that a sizeable percentage of youth were not interested in driving ? Myself. , I walk to and from work now as my hours have been changed , so that meeting my wife , with the car , is no longer viable , nor is public transport. I would consider a bicycle but the prevailing attitude is not very conducive, as are the mandatory helmet laws. So I guess in a way I am helping to save the public purse by being almost invisible to the roads and parking spaces. Too bad I don't buy much that I can't carry on my walk home.

[Tins]

Lack of social “conscience” and “contract” is a primary issue in Australia.

Take Thailand - less than 50% on the roads have a licence.. not uncommon to see a 12 yr old ride out of school with a couple of mates on their scooter etc..

What they do have is understanding of responsibility and tolerance..

Not a lot of accidents over there considering the way the roads are..

Thailand is crazy stupid, but I actually feel safer in Bangkok than I do in Melbourne. I sometimes think it is the lack of regulation, and the SE Asian mindset. Everyone just accommodates everyone else, and they don't rely on an ever increasing regulatory system to "protect" them.

[Tombie]

Thailand is crazy stupid, but I actually feel safer in Bangkok than I do in Melbourne. I sometimes think it is the lack of regulation, and the SE Asian mindset. Everyone just accommodates everyone else, and they don't rely on an ever in creasing regulatory system to "protect" them.

Absolutely.

I drive over there whenever I go. (back there in April for Songkran)

They have all the laws we do, but are far better at self regulation and rarely enforce the smaller rules.

[Tins]

When this topic comes up, as it so regularly does, I am always staggered that nobody ever mentions the MILLIONS of safe journeys that are undertaken EVERY day. I'd say reflect on that, and stop worrying about what you simply cannot control. And read Tombie's post.

Autonomous cars? Are you going to do Googs Track in one? Better to stay home and watch the vid, or, better still, do it on a playstation. My advice is to get a copy of Wall-E, and check out all the obese dudes on the Axiom. That's how you'll all end up. Perhaps you'll have deserved to.

[Tins]

Absolutely.

I drive over there whenever I go. (back there in April for Songkran)




Don't get too wet!

Belay that, getting wet is what it's about.

My time there is usually the week or two later, for ANZAC Day. Must get back a little earlier again. Wonderful country, beautiful people.

[trog]

So it is acknowledged that the road behaviour here is not nice ?

[1nando]

The problem with being human is that we have inbuilt weaknesses.
We will happily sit at a macas drive through for 30 minutes when you could walk inside and grab your food in 10 minutes for example but not be willing to wait for the right time to overtake someone on a hwy. Frustration and complacency would be the root causes of most driving fatalities I'd imagine. People are either not willing to wait or are so relaxed that they have a lapse in concentration amd their better judgement betrays them.
Now what im about to say is probably going to be counter intuitive to a lot of you think but ive read a lot of research suggesting it could work. The hwy speed limit should be increased to 130kmph. This would eliminate the frustration as people who want to travel slow would be passed by people that dont have to worry so much about how many kms over the speed limit they are doing whilst safely overtaking. Would also make people more alert and aware whilst driving and less complacent. If we compare the total road kms travlled, population and deaths per population then the autobahn is safer than Australian roads, food for thought

[goingbush]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Fatso https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/258349-48-000-dead-our-roads-post2766955.html#post2766955)
They are killing themselves , not some innocent party taken out in a road crash through no fault of their own .


Most road deaths are single vehicle.

I wonder what percentage of the single vehicle accidents are suicide ??

[Eevo]

[/I]



I wonder what percentage of the single vehicle accidents are suicide ??


if found to be suicide that death is taken out of the road toll.
i dont know why.

[Tins]

Wasn't there a thread bemoaning the fact that a sizeable percentage of youth were not interested in driving ? Myself. , I walk to and from work now as my hours have been changed , so that meeting my wife , with the car , is no longer viable , nor is public transport. I would consider a bicycle but the prevailing attitude is not very conducive, as are the mandatory helmet laws. So I guess in a way I am helping to save the public purse by being almost invisible to the roads and parking spaces. Too bad I don't buy much that I can't carry on my walk home.

Walking is far better for your health than cycling anyway. All that bent over stuff is bad for your breathing, as it forces you to use a lesser percentage of your lungs to do a greater job of supplying oxygen, puts unnecessary pressure on your diaphragm, and the saddle is bad for your, as Clarkson puts it, Gentleman's Sausage. If you must cycle, it is far better to realise that you are not Cadel Evans, and get a sit up and beg type bike. It is far healthier than the lycra mob would have you believe, but unfortunately it is not fashionable. But, maybe, if enough sensible people did it, it would be. Not holding my breath.

[trog]

Walking is far better for your health than cycling anyway. All that bent over stuff is bad for your breathing, as it forces you to use a lesser percentage of your lungs to do a greater job of supplying oxygen, puts unnecessary pressure on your diaphragm, and the saddle is bad for your, as Clarkson puts it, Gentleman's Sausage. If you must cycle, it is far better to realise that you are not Cadel Evans, and get a sit up and beg type bike. It is far healthier than the lycra mob would have you believe, but unfortunately it is not fashionable. But, maybe, if enough sensible people did it, it would be. Not holding my breath.

Never said anything about the serious lot . I have never been one , never want to be one. I am happy to get from a to b. Give me the " right " to trundle about without abuse as the majority of the countries do , and I will do my best not to clog up your roads or parking.

[Tins]

Never said anything about the serious lot . I have never been one , never want to be one. I am happy to get from a to b. Give me the " right " to trundle about without abuse as the majority of the countries do , and I will do my best not to clog up your roads or parking.

Never said that you were. I spent around 30 years on a bike, emphasis on bike. I got around North Sydney, and through to Balmain, on an old Repco bike. I went everywhere on it. I'm a little bit sad that I don't have a badge or a Lycra suit to prove it, but who knew?
Well, apart from some folk on here, of course.

I also rode the Mornington Peninsula on an old, new then, Apollo 10 speed for a number of years, and also the Dandenong Ranges; but I wasn't trying to prove anything, I was just getting about. Sadly, this concept seems to have been lost here, on this forum.

[trog]

I used to commute all about Toronto from home to work . On nice nights one end of the city to another. Lights only the glow of what I was smoking , soundtrack from the Walkman. No problems at all . Wish I could turn the clock back.

[Roverlord off road spares]

According to the ABC news there has been 48000 Deaths on our roads since 1989 , comes as bit of a shock when presented with these numbers , i was going to make a point but i just can not put any words to it......... . Sad .
That's only deaths, then multiply that by many times over for those that are seriouly injured but are not deceased.

[Roverlord off road spares]

They were saying on the radio the other night , over 100,000 per year killed on the roads in India.

Cheers Ean
And then there are those many who are killed in Train accidents where they all go flying off the roof.

[ramblingboy42]

What about sharks? They must kill millions.....well , you'd think so according to the media and public frenzy that occurs whenever someone is attacked.
Why isn't the public response so immediate when someone is attacked by a killer car?

[trog]

Sharks and crocs don't pay rego

[V8Ian]

Sharks and crocs don't pay rego
You forgot to mention treadlies. [bigwhistle]

[Tombie]

What about sharks? They must kill millions.....well , you'd think so according to the media and public frenzy that occurs whenever someone is attacked.
Why isn't the public response so immediate when someone is attacked by a killer car?

But it is...

Red commodore in Melbourne.
Those vans ploughing pedestrians etc...