Safety expert explains how to lower the road toll.

One of the country’s leading road safety experts has outlined what he calls the ‘nine essential steps’ for lowering the road toll.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide, says that it’s not good enough to simply blame bad driving for the road toll.

“The country’s transport system needs to be set up so that it’s easy to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing.”

Matthew-Wilson gave the example of the Auckland harbour bridge, which used to suffer one serious road accident every week.

“After a barrier was installed down the middle, the accidents stopped immediately. There’s wasn’t one less hoon or drunk driver, and yet the accidents stopped immediately. That’s the way the entire road system needs to be set up.”

Matthew-Wilson outlined nine steps the government needs to take if it wishes to lower the road toll:

1) Wherever possible, separate opposing lanes of traffic using centre barriers.

A significant percentage of the annual road toll involves collisions caused by one vehicle moving into the path of another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

Barriers between the two opposing lanes of traffic are a proven and effective way of stopping head-on collisions.

Where long stretches of road are involved, wire rope barriers are both cheap and effective. Plastic covers can be installed over wire rope barriers to protect motorcyclists.

Although wire rope barriers are already installed in some places, Matthew-Wilson says that in most cases the barriers are not installed because they would slow down traffic, especially trucks.

“Everyone agrees that separating opposing lanes of traffic prevents head-on collisions. I was gobsmacked to hear a government engineer tell me that the reason that more roads didn’t have a wire rope barrier was because it would slow the trucks down. I don’t think the trucking industry should be dictating government road safety policy.”

The Road Transport Forum, which represents the trucking industry, was a major donor to political parties at the last election, contributing nearly $100,000 to Labour, National and also to individual MPs.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10566887

2) Gradually move freight off the roads and onto rail.

“Trucks make up only 4% of the vehicle fleet but cause 16% of all road deaths. This risk is only going to get worse with larger trucks.”

"The government’s own figures show that transporting goods by rail is over five times more efficient that transporting goods by truck.” *

“Not only are trucks incredibly wasteful of energy, they are also a serious risk to other motorists. One in five trucks were found to have brake faults in 2007, and the larger the truck, the harder it is to stop.”

3) Restrict teenagers’ access to alcohol, and make adults who supply underage drinkers liable for any crimes committed by those underage drinkers.

“It’s ridiculously easy for young teenagers to get drunk, and the consequences are often disastrous. The alcohol these teenagers are drinking has to come from somewhere, and if you can slow down this supply, you can lower the numbers of dead and injured teenagers.”

4) Require government departments to buy the safest vehicles in their class.

This will mean that the vehicles that poor people buy in five years’ time are far safer than they otherwise would have been.

“The government runs expensive ads telling people to buy cars with the latest safety features, but doesn’t always buy these same safe vehicles. The government needs to practise what it preaches.”

5) Require all vehicles to have automatic headlights.

Nations where vehicles have automatic headlights, which are on at all times, tend to have a road toll that is significantly lower than countries where cars are only required to have headlights on at night. Daytime running lights are compulsory on all new vehicles in the European Union as from 2011.

“The New Zealand government has two independent reports showing that we could dramatically lower the road toll if all cars had lights on during the day. This should be a no-brainer, but the government simply ignores this issue and then blames bad driving when innocent people get killed.”

6) Raise the licence age to 18.

“I know this would be an unpopular move, but the best science suggests that many teenagers under the age of 18 simply don’t have the skills to navigate modern roads. Worse, teenagers are absolutely convinced that they’re ten foot tall and bulletproof. That’s a lethal combination.”

7) The government needs to empower Maori communities to educate and train their own people to safely operate cars.

Maori are nearly three times more likely than other ethnic groups to die in motor accidents, with a road death rate of 21 per 100,000 population in 2006, compared to 8 per 100,000 for non-Maori.

http://www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/safety/road-casualities.html

"The current driver’s licence system was designed by and for average white New Zealanders, and it often doesn’t work well for other groups.”

“A survey done a few years ago by the AA Driver Education Foundation of young people who drove to a Northland training course showed that 92% had no license. 20% of these people couldn’t get a license because they were illiterate.”

“Many young Maori lack access to a legal car for their practical driving test. For many young Maori, their first brush with the law is for driving illegally.”

“The government needs to fund iwi to run intensive and accessible driver’s licence marae-based programs that would last up to a month. During that time the participants would be taught to drive as part of a literacy, and life skills program. The program would also provide a legal car for the final licence test. At the end of the month the participants would have not only have a driver's license, but hopefully also self-confidence and an ability to make the system work for them instead of against them.”

“There are already similar schemes in operation, but they tend to catch only those few people who come forward asking for help. What is needed is a nationally-funded but locally organised driver training scheme run by Maori, for Maori; one that catches an entire generation, not just a few people at the edges.”

“If the scheme works for Maori, then it could be easily extended out into the wider community, offering help to anyone who finds the driver’s licence system challenging.”

8) Seize cellphones used by drivers while a vehicle is in motion.

Instead of fining drivers who use handheld cellphones, Matthew-Wilson believes the police should have the power to temporarily seize cellphones being used by drivers while a vehicle is in motion.

Matthew-Wilson says that “simply banning cellphones has not worked because many users are prepared to risk a fine rather than miss a call. However, most cellphone users would hate to lose their cellphone – even temporarily – and this fear would eventually modify their behaviour.”

9) Abandon police chases, except in emergencies

“A significant percentage of the road toll involves young drivers who have crashed while being pursued by police. Often, the offences these drivers had committed were relatively minor. Fleeing drivers also pose a serious threat to innocent motorists. I know it really annoys the police when fleeing criminals apparently get away, but common sense has to prevail. The police have other ways of catching criminals than simply chasing after them at high speeds.”

• In 2000, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) calculated that transporting goods by road used 3.1 million units of energy to move one ton of goods one kilometre. By comparison, moving the same goods by rail used only 0.61 1 million units of energy, even allowing for the energy used when the trucks picked up the goods at the railway station.

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