ROAD SAFETY IN AUSTRALIA -PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

INVITED PAPER

ROAD SAFETY IN AUSTRALIA - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

by

C.J. BOUGHTON RESEARCH MANAGER

BUREAU OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS ECONOMICS

30 AUGUST 1988

PROCEEDINGS 14th ARRB CONFERENCE, PART 1 295

296 PROCEEDINGS 14th ARRB CONFERENCE, PART 1

ROAD SAFETY IN AUSTRALIA - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

C.J. BOUGHTON, B.Sc., M.Sc., Research Manager, Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics

ABSTRACT

Indirectly, road safety could be considered to have first been addressed from a national perspective with the publication of the number of road casualties in 1925 by the then Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics. Not until the Expert Group on Road Safety was formed in 1970, however, did road safety become a specific task within a Federal government portfolio. Using 1925 to 1970 as the past, 1970 to 1990 as the present. the post 1990 as the future . road safety in Australia has been examinedfrom the perspective on 'onus'. That is. who has responsibility for action to ensure the safe operation of our road system is maximised. In highlighting programs of the past and present and suggesting implications for the future, onus can be shown to have moved solely from the driver to society as a whole with road users, public authorities and industry each having a shared responsibility.

INTRODUCTION

1. Indirectly , in Austral ia road safety could be considered to have first been addressed from a national perspective with the publ ication of the number of road casualties in 1925 by the then Commonwealth Bu reau of Census and Statistics. In that year , 700 people were killed and 8770 recorded as being injured on roads in Australia (Office of Road Safety, 1984). The number of road casual ties (people killed or injured) continued to rise until the peak year of 1970 wi th 3798 road fatal iti es.

2. In 1970, with the formation of the Expert Group on Road Safety to advise the Federal Government, road safety became a specific activity within a Federal Government portfolio. The period 1925 to 1970 is therefore considered as the past , with 1970 to 1990 as the present and beyond 1990 as the future .

3 . What is meant by the term . road safety'? The Pocket Oxford Dictionary (1985 ed) describes "road" as a "way prepared for footpassengers ; riders and vehicles to travel on", with "safety" as "being safe, free from danger

PROCEEDINGS 14th ARRB CONFERENCE, PART 1

or risks". Thus , one could conclude that 'road safety' means a way prepared for footpassengers, ie. pedestrians , riders and vehicles to travel on free from danger or ri sk s .

4 . Obviously from the above cited figures of death and ihjury and the recognition of 'road safety' as a national issue, Australian roads have not been free from danger or risks. In the sixty plus years since 1925 numerous measures aimed at ameliorating the consequences of road crashes have been introduced . Appendix A provides a chronology of key road safety activities in Austral ia since 1925.

5. Has this effort been effective in the sense of significantly reducing the "danger or risks"? Who has been responsible for ensuring that the safe operation of the road system is maximised? And, who will have that responsibility in the future?

6. In attempting to ans~er these questions, readers should recognlse the personal interpretation of comments which follow. In no way shou 1 d they be cons trued as the vi ews of the Federal Office of Road Safety or the Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics .

297

BOUGHTON - ROAD SAFETY IN AUSTRALIA

THE PAST - 1925 TO 1970

7. In 1972, the Expert Group on Road Safety reported for the first time on the road accident situation in Australia, in the form of a national review (Department of Shipping and Transport , 1972) . This was followed by a second report on the road acc i dent situ ati on in Australia in 1975 (Department of Transport , 1977) .

8 . Both publ ications contain an extensive bibliography and for each about 4U per cent of the citations are Australian references (see Table 1). Of particular interest is that no Austral ian citation is for a publ ication pre 1960. Perhaps there had been a conscious decision to use the most recent references for these two reviews , yet a check of other important road safety publications of the time (Australian Department of Transport , 1975; Expert Group on Road Safety, 1974; Lane, 1968) shows no pre 1960's Australian road safety references bei ng cited. ( I nteres ti ngly, the alcohol references cited by Max Lay (1988) as spanning the period 1949 to 1964 and predominantly reported i n the Medical Journal of Australia were not identified.)

9 . At least in terms of scientific literature, there is an indication that for most of the "past" period road safety was not an issue of national importance .

ACCIDENTAL DEATH

10 . I gnoring t he debate on whether r oad safety i nvolves reducing the number and consequence s of r oad accidents, collisions, smashes or crashes, road fatal ities have represented an increasing proportion of accidental deaths in Austral ia during the period 1925 to 1970 (see Table 2) . Between 1925 and 1960 , the proportion being road fatalities more than doubled from 23 to 48 per cent, representing the 1 a rges t cau se of acc i denta 1 death i n Australia. In the last decade of the "past" period road fatalities comprised more than 50 per cent of accidental deaths and has remained at that level since.

ACTION

11. Coinciding with the rise in accidental deaths attributable to road accidents in the sixties was establishment of a number of organizations such as the Australian Road Research Board , the Victorian Traffic Commission and the New South Wales Traffic Accident Research Unit . These three organizations generated a considerable proportion of the Australian citations referred to in Table 1 .

12. They al so joined the (State) Road Authorities , Automobile Clubs , Police Departments and a number of individuals who were actively engaged in "fighting the road toll": people such as Dr J ohn Lane , Director of Aviat i on Medicine ; Dr Cunn i ngham Dax,

298

TABLE 1 AUSTRALIAN CITATIONS BY YEAR OF PUBLICATION*

1972* 1975* Citations in

bibliography** 330 311 Australian

citations ** 131 131 - pre 1960 nil nil - 1960 to 1969 " 38 23 - 19/0 to 1972 89 40 - post 1972 nil 66 - other *** 4 2 % Australian

citations 40 42

* Refers to bibliographies contained in the Expert Group or Road Safety Reports of 1972 and 1975 (Department of Shipping and Transport, 1972; Department of Transport , 1977 )

** Includes multiple citations of a number of publications

*** Incl udes date of and sources such as the Census and Statistics over several years.

publication not known Commonwealth Bureau of

publications ranging

Chairman of the Victoria Mental Health Authority; Dr Ken Jami e son senior neurosurgeon Roya l Brisbane Hospital; Pro f essor Jim Robertson , professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide; Ron Cumming from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Melbourne University; Dave Herbert of the Snowy Mountains Authority to name but a few. People whose everyday employment was not in road safety but who found themselves contributing to the debate on what should and could be done.

13 . Another group, whose day-to-day activities were more related to road safety found themselves presenting papers at the Australian Study Week on Road Safety Practices in Melbourne in 1967 organized by the Institution of Engineers . . Australia, Melbourne Division in association with The Australian Postgraduate Federation in Medicine .

14. For others, a personal commitment 1 ed to publication. Journalist W. R. Warden's book "Juggernaut-Slaughter on the Australian Roads' was published in 1968, while Troy and Butlin (1971) on ' The cost of collisions', Coyle (1971) in "Familiarity breeds contempt" and Bir rell (1974) the Victo r ia Police Surgeon on "Drinking , driving and you " were outcomes of personal efforts (commenced ' in the sixties) to improve road safety .

15 . I n r etrospect , the activities of the six tie s can be seen as form i ng a sc ientific appr oach to identifying solutions or



TABLE 2

ACCIDENTAL DEATHS PER 100,000 AUSTRALIA 1925 to 1986

All accidental

Year deaths

1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965

1970 1975 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986

52.2 51.4 50.3 56.2 41.0 53.7 55.2 52.5 54.0

55.4 49.1 42.6 39.3 40.7 35.8 33.2 35.3 33.9

Road fatal ities

11.8 16.3 16.4 22.2 13.7 20.1 22.2 25.4 27.8

30.4 26.6 22.3 22.3 21.4 17.9 18.1 18 . 6 18.0

POPULATION,

Per cent road

fata 1 iti es

23 32 33 40 33 37 40 48 51

55 54 52 57 53 50 55 53 53

Sources: Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Stati sti cs (1925-1947) ; (1968); (1972)

Australian Bureau of Statistics (1977); (1987); (1988)

Federal Office of Road Safety (1988b)

Office of Road Safety (1984).

developing road safety measures. This was in marked contrast to the view held in the f ifties that drivers were the cause of the growing road safety problem and , therefore, the only way to stop people be i ng killed and inju red on the roads was for all drive r s to do the right thing (whatever that mi ght be) all the time.

16 . The need fo r a scientific approach wa s indeed recognised in the s i xties . Wa rden (1968) sources Dr John Lane as suggesting road safety was a public health problem wh i ch could be tackled via epidemiology, described as the way orthodox public health matte r s are investigated. In other wordS , when deal ing with an in fectious disease the investigator seeks to find a relationship between the Host, the person or species who get the disease; the Agent, the responsible organi sm ; the Environment including physical , social and economic envi ronments. The analogyy wa s drawn that for road accidents , the Host is the driver or occupant of the vehi cle, or the pedestrian; the Agent is the vehicle ; and the Envi ronment i ncl udes everythi ng from the highway to the social and economic structure of the community.


17. Thus, there was recognition that the road safety problem needed to be addressed from many angles. Yet, as road safety entered the "present" era, responsibil ity for action was narrowing to one of that of governments. Coyl e (1911) refers to the Royal Automob il e Club of Victoria call ing for more and better roads, the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce calling for annual checks on all vehicles, the police stating they have no men and the Victorian State Government (at least) complaining that it has no money. Warden (1968) also claimed that more money was seen to be necessary, as well as the involvement of the Federal Government if the money was not to end up "a series of wasteful State efforts" . The job ·was seen as too big, too complex for State bodies, concerning every part of Australia.

THE PRESENT - 1970 TO 1990

18. The flurry of road safety activity which commenced in the sixties continued into the seventies. The most visible sign of such activity being the organization of over twenty road safety related conferences, semi nars and the like (see Appendix B).

, 19 . The seventies also saw acknowledgement by the Federal Government that road safety was an issue of national importance. In addition to the road funding allocations to the States and Territories and the operation of the Design Rules for Motor Vehicle Safety, the Federal Government established road safety research and public education programs.

20 . This three pronged investment in road safety at the national level has continued throughout the present period and is now mainly addressed through the activities of the Federal Office of Road Safety.

21 . Notwithstanding Warden (1968), State governments have continued their involvement , often suggesting that the Federal Government should stop interfe r ing since they (the States) have practical day-to-day responsibility fo r the operation of the road system.

ROAD SAFETY PROGRAMS

22 . Based on the sc i entifi c approach developed in the si xties and continued throughout the seventi es , many road safety programs have been implemented to varying degrees throughout Australia .

23 . As with all scientific approaches, a framework for analysis was developed. This took the form of a two dimensional matrix which married the host/agent/environment concept to a time variable, ie .

Pre-crash Crash Post-crash

Host Agent

(Oad •sel ,eh"'l Environment

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This matrix has been used to represent the integrated nature of both the contributing factors to road safety and possible safety programs.

24. The framework also represents the concept of primary and secondary safety, where primary safety measures relate to avoidi ng (reducing) accidents, and secondary ' safety measures aim to reduce the trauma consequences gi ven that an accident has occurred.

25. The need for factual information had also been acknowl edged, together wi th the requirement that accident data be collected and eval uated in a consi stent manner (Expert Group on Road Safety, 1978; Boughton, 1983).

26. Wi th in the framework referred to above, the road safety programs imp lemented in Australia by various governments (Federal, State and Local) have reflected the full range of possible measures not just those directed at drivers. For example, following investigations of the involvement of other road users (pedestrians, motorcycl ists, bicycl i sts and passengers) specific measures were introduced such as restraints for passengers, helmets for motorcyclists, targeted behaviours for young and old pedestrians, together with helmets for bicyclists.

27. The Austral ian Design Rule system was extended to ensure Austral ians had access to vehicles manufactured to appropriate safety standards .

28. Road design standards, signing practices, road safety aspects of town planning and the treatment of hazardous roadside objects all received attention. The changes in attitudes to, and regulations relating to, driving after drinking (alcohol) are perhaps the most readily identifiable aspect concerning the social environment.

29. These are some of the many measu res to improve road safety in Austral ia. Significantly only one road safety measure has been introduced at the one time in all jurisdictions; the T-junction rule implemented in 1981.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

30. Effectiveness can be measured in many ways: examples are changes in the level of all crashes, crashes in different injury categories, or particular types of road user. For particular measures, obviously the most appropriate assessment should involve the issue which the measure is aimed to influence. However, in many case's i nforma ti on on the specific issue is not available. In such instances surrogate variables have been utilised in assessing effectiveness.

31. A good example of thi s approach has been the assessment of the effectiveness of random breath testing . Information on blood alcohol

300

levels of all drivers involved in crashes was not available, but because it was known that most alcohol related accidents occur at night (Johnson, 1980) and that alcohol involvement in accidents is higher at night than du ri ng the day (Sloane and South, 1985), a surrogate variable of night time crashes was used in the assessment (Armour , Harrison and South, 1987).

32. Without going into the detail of each measure implemented in Austral ia and whether it has been effective, in theory an evaluation of the broad picture should indicate whether or not the acti ons of the 19/0' sand 1980' s have resulted in an overall benefit.

33. In terms of the three standard performance i ndicators of road fatalities per 10 000 vehicles, per 100 000 population and per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT), the actions taken by governments during the seventies and eighties through research, public education, regulation and investment in the roads infrastucture could be said to have been associated with a significant improvement in performance (see Figure 1).

34. Referring again to Table 2, between 1970 (the peak year of road fatalities) and 1986 the rate of accidental deaths decreased 39 per cent while the rate of road fatal iti es decreased 41 per cent. One could, therefore, conclude that the majority of the reduction in road fatalities over this period is attributable to non-specific road safety activities . Alternatively, the measures aimed at reducing road fatalities may have also influenced other forms of accidental death . Changes in attitudes toward alcohol use may be an example of the latter or may be the former.

35. In each of the last few years some 2800 people have been killed and almost 30 000 seriously injured on roads in Australia, representing more than 50 per cent of accidental deaths. ' Thus, while benefits are evident, road crashes and their resultant trauma are still an issue needing to be addressed.

THE FUTURE - 1990 AND BEYOND

36. At the beginning of the "present" period Coyle (1971) commented

"So say all the experts time and time again over the past ten and more years, and no doubt will be said over another untol d number of years unl ess , all sections of the community , led by a sincere Government , start to act rather than tal k."

37. More recently, in the preface to the proceedings of a Workshop on Traffic Accident Evaluation at Monash University, Andreassend and Gipps (1983) indicated that little had changed in the next ten years .

"There is a diversity of well organizations with variable experti se in road safety in

i ntenti oned levels of Australia.



10 -

9 -

II

7

6

ROAD FATALITIES 4 PER 100 MILLION

VEHICLE KILOMETRES J

2 ROAD FATALITIES PER 100,000 POPULATION+l0

o -.~~~Tj~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r-~

1960 1965 1970 1975 19110 19115

FIGURE 1 ROAD FATALITY RATES, AUSTRALIA 1960-1987 Sources: Federal Office of Road Safety (1988b)

Office of Road Safety (1984)

Besides these organizations there are many others willing to offer authoritative comment on accidents, these include journalists, police, sportsmen, artists, and members of the public . Almost every adult, driver and non-driver alike, feels competent to offer his or her instant definitive analysis of the road safety problem, culminating in an infallible program of home spun remedies. Everybody talks: nobody listens."

38. Thus , if the future is to be better than the pre-sent, there is an urgent need to mobilise all sections of the community to act . In this context, and to ensure that in another ten years the percepti on is not of everybody still just talking, what to do and how are obviously key issues to be identified.

39. Acknowledging that the onus for doing something about road safety has moved to society as a whole does ·not equate with each individual seeking to do the right thing all the time . It means identifying what various sections of the community, ie groups of individual s, can do within the scientific framework expounded earlier and recognising the inter-relationships between activities.

40 . For governments there is a need to ensure that regulations are practical and costeffective; that best practice is acknowledged and implemented nationally as soon as possible ; that spending of the limited safety dollars is associated with the greatest benefits.


41 . For industry, operations need to be developed so they are not in confl ict with safety . Issues such as schedul ing and maintenance practices need to address safety as well as economic considerations .

42. For road users there are both individual and community activities. In accepting that individuals are human beings who have to be accepted for what they are - fallible and prone to error, possible activities are those which provide protection when errors are made. Often referred to as responsible behaviour, this means for example, wearing seat belts and helmets, not driving with blood alcohol levels above the legal limits, and using traffic management and safety devices appropriately.

43. Perhaps the greatest challenge 1 ies in mobilising the untapped community resources into positive activities, particularly those which over time are aimed at changing the social environment. Examples of this include the bicycle helmet programs supported through school parent and citizens associations, the Look Left, Look Right, Look Bike initiative from the Motorcycle Riders Association and the Home Safely Campaign .

44. For communities to be involved their role must be clearly identified and its relationship with integrated activities established. In particular, to avoid confusion and misunderstanding, there needs to be consistency inl approaches. l Differences in regulations between jurisdictions can create concern which hide the importance of the basic issue being addressed . Removal of such

301


differences provides an avenue to illustrate the need for all to work together towa rds the same goal(s). '

45. Hopefully in another ten years the claim won't be made that only one road safety measu re has been introduced at the one time throughout Australia.

ROAD SAFETY AND THE ECONOMY

46. To many the foregoi ng may appear as a traditional view of the future of road safety in Australia which says nothing new. While that may be true, there is a need to ensure that the lessons learnt from the "past" and "present" are not ignored. In particular', the importance of the scientific analysis of what is a complex issue, together with the recognition that road transport, be it personal mobility, business oriented or public transport, will be required in the foreseeable future.

47. Herei n 1 i es an important issue for road safety in future years. Transport is a key component in the restructuring of Australia ' s economy. Aspects which could hinder such restructuring are being put under the microscope, in particular, regulations which impede cost-effective operations .

48. In theory, regulations are only introduced if the result achieved by market forces alone is one which from a social perspective would be judged to be unacceptable. In relation to road safety and the transport sector , governments , therefore, should only introduce regulations which ensure a sa fer, more effi c i ent envi ronment for the majority of road users than would otherwise develop without government intervention.

49. Thi s ra i ses the issue of whether the community is able to make judgements about the cos'ts and benefi ts of safety measu res . What pri ce is the community prepared to pay? Obviously governments do not have sufficient funds to operate a road system which is completely free from danger or risks!

50. The influence of the economy in the transport sector is already being seen in the recent announcement of national arterials to complement the national highway. The role that road safety has in these developments needs to be identified.

51. Outcomes of restructuring in other transport modes could al so have si gnificant impacts on the magnitude of the transport task and hence road safety.

52. Another important aspect from an economic perspective is the costs incurred by industry as a result of accidents . These can result from company vehicles being damaged, an employee off work, retraining when an employee dies on a road accident and traffic delays attributable to accidents, for example.

53. While no estimate has been made of the costs to the transport sector of road accidents, the overall cost to the Australian

302

community in 1987 was $5690 million (Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics, 1988), equivalent to some $350 per head of population (F edera 1 Offi ce of Road Safety, 1988a). Of the overall figure 29.3 per cent was vehicle damage costs with a further 4.4 per cent attributable to traffic delays, together representing some $1920 million .

54. From a road safety perspective, there is an urgent need to ensure that in the restructuring of the transport sector the soci al aspects and the cost of road accidents and associated trauma are not overlooked.

Reactive or Proactive

55. In many ways the road safety activities of the 1 ast 20 years can be interpreted as reactions to the increasing member of road acc i dents in each year of the 1 a tter pa rt of the "past" period. If the influences alluded to earlier in this section are investigated, then there is the opportunity for road safety to be incorporated into considerations of broader issues affecting the lives of Austral ians. Hence, road safety activities will become proactive rather than reactive.

56. In terms of 1990 and beyond, one of the major tasks would appear to be to identify what are the issues, especially those resu lti ng from res tructu ri ng of the economy, likely to influence accident numbers and in what way.

57. A number of i nfl uences can already be identified as worthy of further investigation: people travelling to work rather than industry locating where people live; the application by industry of new strategies of distrubution, such as Just-In-Time, which are likely to result in more frequent tri ps wi th smaller loads; the need for farm families to supplement their income with fami ly members regu 1 a rly travelling to (not always nearby) locations to work; more recreational pursuits being held in the form of national, state or regional competition; more leisure time; families being di stributed around Austral i \I as they move to find work or are moved by their employers creating more travel as family members take the opportunity to have a hol iday in a different location.

58. These examples reflect the operational outcomes of rational i sation and restructuring of the economy, or in other words the influences on the extent of travel, the type of travel and the location of travel. Equally important would be the social consequences.

59. In road safety, this means exposure to risk which has always been an aspect for which inadequate information has been available. Consideration of these broader issues in a proac ti ve manner cou 1 d provi de a new avenue for the enhancement of safer road travel in 1990 and beyond .



CONCLUSIONS

60. As Andreassend and Gipps (1983) commented almost every adult, driver and non-driver alike, feels competent to offer infallible solutions to the road safety problem. Yet, analysis over the last thirty years of the complexity and inter-relationships of the factors contributing has shown that there are no instantaneous solutions nor is anyone group responsible for implementation of the range of actions required. Given the latter there is a need to ensure consistency in development and implementation of road safety measures to avoid unnecessary confusion and diversion of resources to resol ve confl icts between road users, public authorities and industry who have the shared responsibility for action.

61. In the past, resources were identified as inadequate and this is unlikely to change in the future. Of some importance could be the emphasis being given to the restructuring of Australia's economy and the influence this could have on the availabil ity of funds for infrastructure improvements and the implementation of safety regulations which are both practical and cost-effective.

62. Measuring effectiveness is, therefore, of particular importance from ~n economic as well as a social perspective.

63. Given the numbers of people killed and injured in road accidents each year and the associated cost to the community , road safety iss ti 11 an issue of nati ona 1 importance and will continue to be so in the forseeable future. However, the indications are that road safety can no longer be viewed as a discrete component . Road transport is only one aspect of the transport sector and the changes under investigation in rel ation to other modes may have significant impacts on road transport and hence the emphas is on road safety in the future .

64 . In addition, there is a need to investigate the influence on road safety of l i kely outcomes of restructuring of the economy so that thei r impact on road safety can be identified and appropriate activities incorporated into future planning.

REFERENCES

Andreassend , D C and Gipps , P G (Ed)(1983) , Proceedings of the Esso-Monash Civil Engineering Workshop on Traffic Accident Evaluation, Monash University , February 1983.

Armour , M, Harrison , Wand South, D (1987), Random breath testing in Victoria. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, Amsterdam, September 1986 .

Australian Bureau of Statistics (1977)~ Causes of Death, 1974 and 1975, Catalogue No 3303 .0.


(1987), Monthly summary of statistics, Australia (and previous issues).

(1988), Causes of Death, Australia 1986, Catalogue No 3303.0.

Australian Department of Transport (1975), Proceedings of Road Safety and the Law Seminar, Sydney 1973, Australian Government Publishing Service.

Birrell, John L (1974), Drinking, driving and you, (Sun Books, Mel bourne).

Boughton, Carol (1984), Quantifying accident data . In Andreassend, DC and Gipp, P G (Ed)(1983) .

Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics (1988), How much do road accidents cost?

Commonweal th Bureau of Census and Stati stics (1925-1947), Australian Demography Bulletins Nos 43, 48, 53, 58, 63 .

(1968), Death rates 1950 to 1965, Supplement to Causes of Death Bulletin No 3.

(1972), Causes of Death 1969 and 1970 Bulletin No 7.

Coyle, Colin J (1971), Familiarity breeds contempt, (The Hawthorn Press, Melbourne).

Department of Shipping and Transport (1972) , The road accident situation in Australia - a national review. A report to t he Minister for Shippi ng and Transport by the Expert Group on Road Safety . Australian Government Publishing Service .

Department of Transport (1977), The road accident situation in Austral ia in 1975. A report to the Commonwealth Minister for Transport for the Expert Group on Road Safety . Austra lian Government Publishing Service.

Expert Group on Road Safety (1978) , Road Accident Information Seminar, Canberra 1974. Australian Government Publishing Service .

F edera 1 Offi ce of Road Safety (1988a), Roao crash statistics Australia, January 1988. Department of Transport and Communications.

(1988b), Road crash statistics Australia April 1988 . Department of Transport and Communications .

Johnston , R (1980) , Alcohol related accidents : characteristics, 'causes' and counter measure impl ications. Road Safety Initiatives Conference , Melbourne.

Lane, J C (1968), Safety in transport . Special Lectures in Transport, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Melbourne .

Lay, M (1988), Australia's road inheritance. Paper to be published at 14th Australian Road Research Board Conference .

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Offi ce of Road Safety (1988), Road traffi c accident data and rates: Australia, States and Terri tori es 1925 to 1981. Department of Transport. Sloane, H R and South, D R (1985), The characteristics of accidents involving alcohol in Victoria (1977-1982). Road Traffic Authority Victoria Report 5/85.

Troy, P Nand Butlin, N G (1971), The cost of collisions. (Cheshire Publishing Pty Ltd, Mel bourne).

Warden, W R (1968), Juggernaut - Slaughter on the Australian Roads. (A H & A W Reed).

APPENDIX A

CHRONOLOGY OF KEY ROAD SAFETY ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRALIA FROM A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

1925* National road traffic accident statistics published for first time.

1934 Conference of State Road Authorities , which became National Association of Australia State Road Authorities (NAASRA) in 1959.

1946 Austral ian Transport Advisory Council (ATAC).

1947 Australian Road Safety Council (ARSC), Australian Road Traffic Code Committee and Australian Motor Vehicle Standards Committee.

1956 Traffic Commission (Victoria) (first specialist traffic body).

1960 Australian Road Research Board 1961 Helmet wearing by motorcyclists made

compulsory in Victoria . 1962 National Road Traffic Code endorsed

by ATAC. 1963/64 First Adelaide in-depth study. 1965 Blood alcohol concentration (SAC)

limited to 0.05 per cent in Victoria with breathalyzer used to determine BAC.

1965 Austral ian Motor Vehicle Design Advi sory Panel.

1967 Australian Study Week on Road Safety Practices.

1968 First Australian Design Rules (ADRs) endorsed.

1970 Traffic Accident Research Unit (NSW) 1970 ATAC committees reorganised; ARSC

abolished. 1970 Expert Group on Road Safety (EGORS). 1970 Road Safety Research Secti on

established in Commonwealth Department of Shipping and Transport to service EGORS.

1970 Compulsory seat belt wearing in Victoria.

1971 First ADRs come into effect. 1971 City of Woodville (SA) introduces

first Local Area Traffic Management Scheme .

1972 First National Road Safety Symposium 1972 EGORS National Review of the Road

Accident Situation in Austral ia. 1973 Traffic Engineering and Road Safety

Improvement Program (later MITERS category of Commonwealth Roads , Grants Acts).

304

1975 Victoria adopts major/minor system of intersection control (METCON/STATCON).

1975

1975

Western Australia introduces T-junction rule. Road Safety and Standards Authority (abolished in 1976).

1976 Random Breath Testing (RBT) introduced in Victoria.

1977 In-depth study of Coll iSions with Utility Poles (Melbourne).

1980 1981

MITERS abolished. T-junction rule introduced Australia-wide .

1982 NSW introduced RBT on an intensive basis.

1984

1986

Second National Road Safety Symposium . Third Edition Design Rules endorsed by ATAC.

* Although this event was preceded by the Commonwealth Main Roads Development Act in 1923, the actual compilation of road crash s ta ti s ti cs has been interpreted as the beginning of road safety in Australia.

APPENDIX B

ROAD SAFETY CONFERENCES , ETC IN THE 1970'S *

Title

National road safety symposium

Road safety and the law

Road accident information seminar

Seat belt seminar

Motorcycles and safety symposium

9th International conference on Alcohol , drugs and traffic safety conference

Timing

March 1972

August 1973

March 1974

March 1976

June 1976

Nov 1976

6th International Conference of Jan 1977 the International Association for Accident and Traffic Medicine

Traffic control and road accidents

Fixed roadside hazards symposium

RACS Seminar-Restraining a child in a car

National conference on childhood accidents and prevention

Australian Road Research Board Conferences

Queensland Road Safety Council annual publ ic seminars

Aug 1977

Oct 1977

Apr 1978

Nov 1 q78

Sep 1979

1970, 72, 74, 76, 78

1973,74,75 , 76, 77

* This list is illustrative only of the range of functions held.


Documents

ROAD SAFETY IN AUSTRALIA -PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE