The View from Down Under
After recently chatting with a journalist from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, I’ve got the country on my mind. I was interested to note that over the period from 1995 to 2004, total road deaths in Australia dropped 21%. In the U.S. over that same period, the number actually increased, by 2%.
Given that Australia and the U.S. have certain similar characteristics in roads and vehicles, the country is considered a particularly fruitful benchmark against the U.S. There are no doubt issues in terms of U.S. drivers having higher exposure, but measured in various ways (per person, per registered vehicle), the Australians logged much better performance over the same period.
Why? This DOT report, looking at the state of Victoria (as in the U.S., states can set their own road policies), cites the following as important, among other factors:
* Introduced a considerable number of traffic safety legislative and regulatory amendments to increase police powers, sharpen laws, and increase penalties. For example, a zero blood alcohol requirement was introduced for drivers in the first 3 years after licensing, the probationary license period was increased from 2 to 3 years, compulsory helmet wearing by bicyclists was introduced, the demerit points scheme was revised, and immediate license loss for all second and subsequent drunk-driver offenses was established.
* Introduced speed cameras as a method of speed limit enforcement.
* Increased random breath testing for the detection of alcohol-impaired drivers by a factor of at least five, to a point where (statistically) one in three Victorian drivers could be expected to be tested in any given year.
* Began a long-term program of public education to support specific safety initiatives and keep traffic safety in the public arena.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Traffic safety, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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