Australian’s had a pretty terrible time on the roads last winter. Sadly, more people died between June and August than in the 3 months prior (up 13%). And when you zoom out to the previous years, the winter road toll increased for the third time in a row!
The million-dollar question is why. Logically, we would point to a growing population, human error, and rising car sales which result in more cars on the road. But why winter? Is it the wet weather?
Well, the Bureau of Meteorology says we had one of our driest winters on record last year. Both sides of the country had either ‘average’ or ‘below average’ rainfall so clearly that can’t be answer!
The big picture
The sad truth is no one really knows why – not even the experts.
Not knowing the underlying reasons is definitely shattering but we should also take a sec to acknowledge what has been achieved over the years.
- The overall road toll has decreased dramatically (30.4 fatalities per 100,000 of population, this rate decreased to 9.7 in 1997)
- We’ve introduced more road safety legislation e.g. seat belts, random breath testing, airbags, and hasher punishments for the drink driving idiots
- Our roads are better
- Road safety advertising campaigns have made us more road safety conscious than ever before
You’re most likely to have a car accident on Friday (16%)
source: youi.com.au
What can we do to stay a little safer on the road?
Here’s what we think would make things better for everyone in the short & long term.
- Self-driving cars
A long term-fix, self-driving cars are expected to drive down road fatalities and increase overall road safety. It’s core benefit is it will take away the errors we humans make behind the wheel…
Human error is said to the cause of 90 per cent of deaths on the road – that’s around 1.2 million people (talking world stats here) dying on the road every year.
- Ride share – reduce volume
Not an exact science but we reckon if there’s fewer drivers are on the road, it would reduce the chance that someone could get hurt. This is where services like Uber and carpooling with mates come into play. They give us a short-term way to at least reduce congestion and reinforce our reliance on mates, especially if you’ve had a drink or two.
- Better public transport
Admittedly, public transport might not be a viable solution for everyone – they can run late, might not service your area, and are often hugely congested during peak hour. But for the purposes of getting fewer drivers on the road, public transport is part of the solution now and into the future.
Note: if you’re area is underserviced, try spamming your local member.
- Don’t underplay speeding & texting while driving
Over the years we’ve well and truly learnt that drink driving is stupid. But do we have the same opinions about speeding and texting? The recent spate of ads and TAC surveys suggest there is still work to be done. Be smart. Drive to the conditions.
- Buy compliant car accessories
Accessories like car mats have been known to cause accidents around. Usually it comes about because the mat didn’t fit, or the user didn’t install the mat properly. Avoid this and buy smart, especially when it comes to accessories around the driver.
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