1. ROAD SAFETY:
WHAT NEXT?
Ken Ogden
Engineers Australia
National Committee for Transport
2. Road Trauma
• 1.2 million deaths p.a. worldwide (WHO)
• average 5 people killed every day in
Australia
• and another 60 injured
• Economic cost (BTCE - $15b p.a.)
5. Definition
‘ A rare, random, multi-factor event always preceded
by a situation in which one or more persons have
failed to cope with their environment’
UK Department of Transport (1986) Accident
Investigation Manual
Therefore the road environment should:
– assist driver to make correct decision
– be forgiving of driver error
– lessen consequences if crash occurs
6. Road Safety Initiatives - Vic
1200
1970- Compulsory w earing of seatbelts
1974- Compulsory BAC analysis of crash victims over 14
1000
1989: Excessive speed legislation,
1981: Compulsory seatbelts Intense enforcement operation, TAC
for children, introduction of media campaigns
800 RADAR
1976: Compulsory child
seat restraints, Random
Fatalities
breath tresting stations
1990: High profile Booze buses introduced
introfduced
600 1983: Red light
1986:
cameras, Old 1991: Road safety co-ordination strategy,
Speed Community road safety councils introduced
Booze buses
cameras
introduced
introduced
400
1984: Zero
BAC for P and 1993: 1996: 2000:
L plate drivers Mobile Laser 50km/h
radar speed default
200 introduced measuring urban
to rural Vic device speed limit
introduced introduced
0
1970
1971
1972
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1974
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7. Safer Systems Framework
• Holistic approach to the transport system
and its failures
• Humans are not perfect decision makers
• Safety can be built into the system
• Vehicles and roads must be compatible
with the human element
• Morally unacceptable to deliberately plan
for a certain level of road trauma
8. Safer Systems
• Well-understood in other sectors
• No longer acceptable to plan for a given
level of fatalities
• Safety is built in
• Any fatality is an aberration
9. “Vision Zero”
• A law-abiding motorist in a safe modern
car should not die as a result of a crash
• 4 – 5 star drivers, cars and roads
• The road is engineered to prevent
crashes, and minimize consequences if
they occur
10. 3 Strategic Initiatives
• Building safety into the road system
• Widespread adoption of electronic stability
control (ESC) systems
• Focussing on aberrant and extreme driver
behaviour
11. Safer Roads
• Infrastructure - 50% of the reduction in the
road toll
• Most of our road system laid down in the
1950’s & 1060’s
• Safety was not then the key priority – need
to retrofit
• Black spots first
• Then mass action
12. Safer Roads
• Techniques are known and practised
– sealed shoulders
– safer intersections
– roadside hazards
– overtaking lanes
– divided roads
13. Political Will
• Retrofitting for safety requires substantial
funding
• Dependent on political will
• Response to community ‘grassroots’
concern
14. Australian Road Assessment
Program (AusRAP)
• Aim is to heighten public awareness
• Demonstrate the benefits achievable through
safer roads programs
• “Some roads are safer than others and here’s
why”
• Hence create community demand for funding:
political response
• Future: “cooperative systems” where vehicles
and infrastructure communicate with each other
15. Safer roads - key actions
• Raise community awareness of the
importance of road infrastructure in road
safety
• Fund improvements (often low-key and
unglamorous, but highly effective)
• Extend black spot funding to mass action
programs
16. Electronic Stability Control
• Most significant initiative since seatbelts!
• Essentially the driver cannot lose control
of the vehicle
• 40% of crashes involve loss of control
• Enormous potential safety benefits of this
technology
17. Electronic Stability Control
• Challenge – to get more ESC-equipped
cars on the road
• Europe – 80% of new cars, but Australia
25-30%
• Aim to have ESC as standard on all
models, not just luxury models
• Consumer pressure (including fleets – an
OH&S issue)
18. ESC – key actions
• Maximize sales of ESC-equipped cars
- consumer awareness
- fleet purchase policies
- promotion by safety agencies
• Develop an objective measure-of-
performance of ESC
• Mandate on new vehicles
19. Aberrant Behaviour
• Switch emphasis from the whole driving
population to those who consistently
demonstrate illegal or extreme behaviour
• Education and enforcement
– Speed
– Alcohol
– Drugs?
– Fatigue?
– Hand-held mobile phones?
20. Education & Enforcement
• Successful – high degree of compliance
• Government revenue – fines
• Public perception – more about revenue
than safety?
• Must continue, but maybe we’ve reached
a point of diminishing returns
21. Driver Behaviour
• Most drivers try to do the right thing
• Small percentage (2-4%) show consistently
aberrant behaviour
- speed
- alcohol and illicit drugs
- seat belts
- unlicensed drives
- unregistered vehicles
• These drivers are over-represented in road toll
22. Technology
• Alcohol ignition interlocks
• Electronic licenses and automated number
plate recognition
• Future: ensure that the driver and vehicle
are compliant
• Applied to those who show disregard for
the law and society
23. Aberrant behaviour - actions
• Research to dimension and define the
problems
• Develop appropriate technological and
enforcement countermeasures
24. Challenge – Vision Zero
• Embrace the safer systems philosophy,
where every fatal crash is seen as an
aberration and a system failure
• Aim for “vision zero” – 5 star drivers, cars
and roads
