Holiday Road Toll

[mtpanorama]

So which state will take out the championship for the holiday road toll????????????

Every time there is along weekend or a holiday period the News stations decide to list each state with the amount of deaths. It seems like it is becoming a competition. So who will be the winner?

I dont know if other countries do this or not. I reallt dont see what the difference is between a person dying in the holidays to any other time of the year. It is an unfortunate thing , but placing each states score up doesnt make any difference to me how i drive and i dont think it makes much difference to anyone else.

[Airhead]

The double demerit points thing does tend to get my attention though.

[coln72]

Just travelled up and down the Hume. Double demerit points dont meas jack if there is no one enforcing them...
Only saw 3 police cars for the whole trip.

[Crash Test]

Sadly, QLDs problem was an accident that killed 5 people. It could have happened any time, but it had to happen now when someone is keeping the score...

[Amaroo Park]

Unfortunatly until the dills that make the laws realise that it is NOT speed that kills rather a lack of Driver Training nothing much is going to change.

This double demerit point thing is just revenue raising

[Crash Test]

Also I think the shonky conditions of some roads can't help...

[Amaroo Park]

Originally posted by Crash Test
Also I think the shonky conditions of some roads can't help...

Definatly, But better driver training to be able to handle a car in those conditions would be a good start. I think every one who is going for there "L's" should be made to read Frank Gardners "Drive To Survie". While not the be all and end all in driver training books it would have to be a bloody good start.

[Crash Test]

Agreed. I've got Drive to Survive and a couple of other Gardner books, and you know that Frank was truly involved in the writing of them by the amount of times he uses words like "stupid" and "idiot"

[marcus]

well I just drove to Bathurst and back and idnt really see many coppers out at all , I expected them to be everywhere , but they wernt.

and to everyones credit that i say , the driving standards (including mine) were very good , there was no stupid overtaking going on , or excessive speed, it was just a casual drive up and back.

[medler]

In some counties in the UK they put the casualty score on road signs. Lincolnshire is doing a lot of it along with a massive speed camera program, but despite this the casualties are rising. So it looks like speed cameras aren’t the road safety godsend that the authorities and pressure groups would have us believe. I believe in better driver training and regular re-tests, as most people don’t take an interest in their driving standards once they have passed their test.

[Crash Test]

Agreed. Having passed my test in relatively recent times, I'm fresh with the rules, and I find myself able to pull everyone else's driving apart, simply because they don't know any better.

[elephino]

I've been pulling everyone's driving apart for years and years and years. And yes, I do know which rules I break when I break them.

But Crash has mentioned something here. People don't know any better. If they did, they might drive better. The majority out there aren't taught to be curtious to other road users (ie including bicycles, pedestrians, motorcycles, etc), they aren't taught the rules either...just a couple of bits and pieces like "when the big white sign with the red circle has a 60 in it, it means the speed limit is 60km/h". Even simple rules like "you are not allowed to cross a single unbroken white line" are not taught - and there are people out there who do not know these things.

[Airhead]

Elephino I agree but think you can take the argument further. I was thinking of this while riding along yesterday.

There is a cohort of drivers (and people in society) who do not care or factor in consequences when going about the actions of their daily lives. Hence they do things like drive when rolling drunk, drive dangerously and take risks that the rest of us would deem unacceptable.

They then are over represented in the statistics.

Then there are people who see driving as any other everyday activity. They are careless due to inattention to the task. They also are over represented in the statistics.

To these groups double demerit points don't effect the road toll. The first group just don't care, they are also the people driving around unlicenced in unregistered cars! The second group most of the time don't speed or break rules. While they may care they don't take any care behind the wheel.

Just a few thoughts - the blitz and the double pointsthing really is preaching to the converted in my view.

[The Snout]

Then there are people who see driving as any other everyday activity. They are careless due to inattention to the task. They also are over represented in the statistics.

These people are particular frustrating. There's a certain amount of common sense involved in driving. Only using the right lane when overtaking, keeping a consistent speed, that sort of thing. People like this who block the right hand lane by not overtaking a car they are next too or just pulling out into the right hand lane in front of you regardless of speed difference need to focus fully on what's going on around them.

Whatever the issue, the roads need a bigger police presence. If you drive a road regularly and you know no cops are ever on it chances are you will do the extra 10-15 kph. But if they are constantly on a road you tend to check your speed more.

[DAVID PATERSON]

It's obvious to all of us that edcuation, better training and tougher, more frequent testing is the answer, but unfortunately the government won't go in that direction. Why?

Are they genuinely mistaken or do they know the truth but don't want to be politically courageous by doing what is right, but may not get them re-elected.

[medler]

The technology is also availible to bring in speed limiters, they have done this on Heavy Trucks in Europe, but thats easy as most of the population see trucks as a menace and the more regulation the better. However they could not do this on cars, it comes down to everybody is a good driver its the others that should be restricted.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Speed limiters will only stop people from speeding excessively on major highways, it won't do anything about people who do 80 km/h around town or 70 km/h past a school.

You're right though that it's easy to legislate against truck drivers, they are a small minority who don't have the support of most voters. To come out and say that most car drivers are incompetent is politically courageous, if not suicuidsal.

A recent survey conducted by the local Automobile Association found that over 50% of drivers considered themselves to be excellent/very good and just 1% considered their abilities to be below average. Any statistician will tell you this is mathematically impossible. Herein lies the problem, people won't seek assistance/guidance or training willingly if they don't belive they need it.

[Crash Test]

I notice that one of the programs on ch9 next (this, get it right) year is something called the "National Driving Test". I don't know if kerry packer is going to supply every Australian with a driving tester, or if it will be self assessment, but it might provide some interesting results