I read an article the other day that said, despite spending endless amounts of money installing speed cameras, reducing speed limits and treating motorists like naughty children, the road toll continues to climb each year. And I’m going to tell you why; the Government doesn’t give a shit about our safety. If it did, we’d see better road-based education and training. We’d see strategies other than speed cameras and hefty fines. And yes, we’d see positive results.
New vehicles have never been as safe as they are now. Even the new Suzuki Jimny has more safety technology than ever before. So you’d think, in theory, there would be fewer deaths on the road, right?
Well, in the last 12 months, 1214 people have sadly passed away on our roads, compared to 1170 in 2015. Back in 2011, a National Road Strategy was introduced with the aim of reducing road deaths up to 30% by 2020. That’s hasn’t happened. This particular strategy included 33 key performance indicators, and out of those only nine have been classed as “on track”, five are “not on track”, and 11 have been classed as “unlikely to be met”. The remaining eight performance indicators have been swept under the rug completely, it seems. What this says to me is, this government has not done its job. It hasn’t invested money wisely, nor has it taken road safety seriously enough. But yet we need new football stadiums? What a joke…
What the Government has done, though, is collect over 1.1 BILLION DOLLARS annually from infringements nation-wide. And where does that money go? Supposedly, it’s put back into improving road infrastructure. But if that were the case, shouldn’t we be seeing a decline in fatalities as well as a reduction in revenue collected from speed and red light cameras?
I understand this is a sensitive topic that will affect many people who have lost a loved one on the road, but surely enough is enough. We as a nation need to ask, what are we doing wrong and how can we fix it? I want Australians to be able to see this country and make it home safely. I don’t think that’s too much to ask of our leaders. But what’s the solution? Personally, I think we need better and more regular driver training. But I’m keen to hear your thoughts on this subject.
THE EV’ITOR’S COLUMN
NEWS
THE ROAD TOLL CONTINUES TO CLIMB. BUT WHY?
I read an article the other day that said, despite spending endless amounts of money installing speed cameras, reducing speed limits and treating motorists like naughty children, the road toll continues to climb each year. And I’m going to tell you why; the Government doesn’t give a shit about our safety. If it did, we’d see better road-based education and training. We’d see strategies other than speed cameras and hefty fines. And yes, we’d see positive results.
New vehicles have never been as safe as they are now. Even the new Suzuki Jimny has more safety technology than ever before. So you’d think, in theory, there would be fewer deaths on the road, right?
Well, in the last 12 months, 1214 people have sadly passed away on our roads, compared to 1170 in 2015. Back in 2011, a National Road Strategy was introduced with the aim of reducing road deaths up to 30% by 2020. That’s hasn’t happened. This particular strategy included 33 key performance indicators, and out of those only nine have been classed as “on track”, five are “not on track”, and 11 have been classed as “unlikely to be met”. The remaining eight performance indicators have been swept under the rug completely, it seems. What this says to me is, this government has not done its job. It hasn’t invested money wisely, nor has it taken road safety seriously enough. But yet we need new football stadiums? What a joke…
What the Government has done, though, is collect over 1.1 BILLION DOLLARS annually from infringements nation-wide. And where does that money go? Supposedly, it’s put back into improving road infrastructure. But if that were the case, shouldn’t we be seeing a decline in fatalities as well as a reduction in revenue collected from speed and red light cameras?
I understand this is a sensitive topic that will affect many people who have lost a loved one on the road, but surely enough is enough. We as a nation need to ask, what are we doing wrong and how can we fix it? I want Australians to be able to see this country and make it home safely. I don’t think that’s too much to ask of our leaders. But what’s the solution? Personally, I think we need better and more regular driver training. But I’m keen to hear your thoughts on this subject.
NEWS
THE EV’ITOR’S COLUMN
THE ROAD TOLL CONTINUES TO CLIMB. BUT WHY?