Government needs to rethink road safety strategy – expert

The weekend road toll should serve as a wakeup call to the government, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says New Zealand’s road safety authorities have largely wasted road safety resources by targeting all drivers instead of drivers within the seven riskiest groups.

“Current road safety campaigns tend to target the average driver, but the average driver is rarely the cause of serious road accidents. If you look back on the terrible accidents of the last weekend, you’ll see that speed cameras and shock tv ads had zero effect on the behaviour of most of the drivers who caused them.”

“It’s better to work out strategies to protect innocent motorists than to try and change the behaviour of a small group of idiots and criminals behind most road deaths.”

Matthew-Wilson gave the example of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which used to be the site of one serious accident per week.

“After a concrete barrier was installed down the middle of the bridge, the serious accidents stopped immediately. There’s wasn’t one less hoon or drunk driver, and yet the barrier stopped the idiots colliding with oncoming taffic. That’s the way the entire road system needs to be set up. Where you can’t separate opposing lanes of traffic, then at least make sure that all cars have lights on at all times, so that you can see if some idiot has just moved into your path.”

Matthew-Wilson pointed to World Health Organisation statistics showing that vehicles using daytime running lights have a crash rate 10-15% lower than those that do not.

“The evidence that vehicles are safer with their lights on is overwhelming. The European Commission has ruled that all new cars operating in the EU must have daytime running lights from February 2011”.

“Daytime running lights and headlights used during the day make it easier to see vehicles and have been clearly shown to improve road safety.”

A report by the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide has also identified the seven major groups that cause road deaths. Titled ‘The seven deadly sins’, the report says that road deaths tend to involve very young drivers, very old drivers, very fast drivers, very impaired drivers, very tired drivers, very distracted drivers & very poor (impoverished) drivers.

Any combination of the seven deadly sins means a very high risk of fatality, according to the report. For example, an elderly driver who has been drinking heavily is very high risk. A young working class driver who is tired, speeding and using a cellphone is a very high risk.

Matthew-Wilson said that as a small group of drivers were responsible for the vast majority of accidents, members of this group should be the targets of all campaigns.

“Police enforcement should focus on the seven groups most likely to cause road deaths, not mums driving kids to school at slightly over the speed limit. Targeting low-level offending in order to stop high level offending is like trying to stop bank robberies by targeting shoplifters.”

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http://www.dogandlemon.com/media/Safety%20PDF/The%20Seven%20Deadly%20Sins.pdf

http://www.dogandlemon.com/media/Safety%20PDF/A%20Comedy%20of%20Errors.pdf

ENDS

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