Thread: Road Safety or Revenue?

Signs being removed from mobile speed cameras, tolls going up, various other government charges increasing, is it just me or does anyone else think there might be correlation with the need to recoup the money shelled out on job keeper over the last year?

Signs you are talking about are state, and jobkeeper federal, so a bit hard to see the connection. Same probably applies to at least some of the "various other government charges increasing".

One point I could comment on though is that there is significant doubt, at least in my mind, just how dangerous in itself mobile phone use is. If we consider that mobile phone ownership has gone from rare to ubiquitous over the last 25 years, it follows that the use of phones while driving has risen. So if phone use is a significant contributor to accidents, there should be a noticeable increase over time.

But if we look at the figures for road deaths (I use road deaths because they are the most concrete statistics), in the period from 1994 to 2019 has decreased from 1928 to 1194. And if we look at the figures for per 100,000 population 1994 to 2018 (latest available) they are 10.8 to 4.6.

Similarly, if you go to USA figures, where some states allow phone use while driving and others do not, it is impossible to find any correlation between this and their accident or road death rate, or the rate of decline in these figures (and yes, they have declined in the same way ours have).

And perhaps also worth pointing out here that no accident ever has a single cause, which means looking at lists of "cause" of accident is not very useful. For example, consider the case of a driver travelling at excessive speed, using his phone, and above the blood alcohol limit has an accident. What is the "cause"?

Originally Posted by JDNSW

consider the case of a driver travelling at excessive speed, using his phone, and above the blood alcohol limit has an accident. What is the "cause"?

cause he's a dickhead.

The comedian Jim Jeffries does a routine about how we all have to walk as slow as societies slowest members to keep society going.

If there was a more comprehensive system that analyzed and rated drivers then it would be much easier. It's like the argument that police shouldn't use mobile phones or breaking general road rules at all when driving, unless they're professional drivers that have undergone an advanced driving course they should be under the exact same rules as everyone else. Even if they had been trained as professional drivers there's no provision under current law to be exempt from the road rules though.

I strongly believe that people should have to resit their driving test every 5 years or so, and if there was an option of advanced driving courses you should be able to attend and have extended rights compared to other drivers, just like you already do with any license that isn't C class. You can't just drive a truck without a special license or a taxi either.

Originally Posted by shwza

The comedian Jim Jeffries does a routine about how we all have to walk as slow as societies slowest members to keep society going.

If there was a more comprehensive system that analyzed and rated drivers then it would be much easier. It's like the argument that police shouldn't use mobile phones or breaking general road rules at all when driving, unless they're professional drivers that have undergone an advanced driving course they should be under the exact same rules as everyone else. Even if they had been trained as professional drivers there's no provision under current law to be exempt from the road rules though.

I strongly believe that people should have to resit their driving test every 5 years or so, and if there was an option of advanced driving courses you should be able to attend and have extended rights compared to other drivers, just like you already do with any license that isn't C class. You can't just drive a truck without a special license or a taxi either.

Don't get me started...

Add a Trailer Licence to your list...

you have a point there, i hadn't considered the state v federal issue.
On the subject of mobile phones, I think there are equally distracting items in modern cars that can contribute to loss of concentration. Most cars has some sort of interactive touch screen display now, if you're fiddling with that while you're driving, then your eyes are away from the road.
Touch screens really sent mobile phones in cars to the top of the public enemy number 1 list. with the older phones with raised buttons, you could select buttons by touch, with taking your eyes off the road. You could even type a text message if you were really good.
Have a look at some of the Dashcams Australia monthly compilations of youtube, you will see a lot of people have enough trouble just driving a car when it's their only task. Sure they may never have had an accident, but have probably caused many. These are the sort of people that can't drive and do anything else at the same time.

If speed cameras are catching more and more people, could one assume that they are ineffective in road safety?

Originally Posted by Saitch

If speed cameras are catching more and more people, could one assume that they are ineffective in road safety?

Or people are becoming increasingly stupid / impatient.