Thread: Record LOW road toll

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

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

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

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

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.

Originally Posted by 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

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

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.

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.