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Road safety in Australia –the data and the challenge. Kym Bills Executive Director Australian Transport Safety Bureau. National Road Safety Strategy 2001-2010. Joint strategy involving all levels of government & other stakeholders endorsed by ATC in late 2000
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Road safety in Australia–the data and the challenge Kym Bills Executive Director Australian Transport Safety Bureau
National Road Safety Strategy 2001-2010 • Joint strategy involving all levels of government & other stakeholders endorsed by ATC in late 2000 • Series of two-year action plans, providing a focus on priority issues • Target a 40% reduction in the number of road deaths per 100,000 population by end 2010 (5.6 max)
Basis of target • Based on estimated effects of known measures following a 1998 summit & Corben/Vulcan paper • Focus on measures likely to be ‘in the pipeline’ (eg road investment, some vehicle technology) plus those feasible to implement & cost-effective • Estimates adjusted to allow for expected increase in vehicle use, and discounted to avoid double-counting of savings • 40% challenging, but not cf 50% or ‘vision zero’
2010 target: indicative estimates of the effects of known measures
Measuring progress • Steady progress toward the target would require a 5% reduction in the fatality rate each year • On that basis, the cumulative reduction by the end of May 2007 should have been 27.9%
Changes in vehicle usage • Total vehicle usage (kilometres per person) has been growing at about 0.9 of a percentage point per year • slightly faster than expected when the target was set • but not enough to explain the gap between safety outcomes and the pro-rata target • unlikely that the changed safety trend since 2004 is a result of a surge in total vehicle use • in fact, fuel price rises have probably moderated aggregate exposure growth.
Changes in vehicle usage • Truck VKT growth in line with forecast and deaths have decreased (but not in line with pro rata 40% target) • Unforseen increase in motorcycle usage and motorcycle deaths • motorcycle deaths have increased by 36% since 1999(22% since 2004) • the trend in motorcycle deaths accounts for about two fifths of the current gap between the total fatality rate & pro-rata target
Was the target unrealistic? • Two states have achieved cumulative reductions that are very close to the national pro-rata target for May 2007: • National pro-rata target: 27.9% • NSW reduction: 27.2% • SA reduction: 27.3% • In Victoria, which started with the lowest rate among the states, the rate has dropped by 24% since December 2000
Was the target unrealistic? • In the 12 months to May 2007, NSW and Victoria both had road death rates slightly below the national pro-rata target • National pro-rata target: 6.7 deaths per 100,000 • NSW and Victoria: 6.6 deaths per 100,000 • Victoria recorded a 31% reduction in the fatality rate in the two years to April 2004, mainly by using a robust approach to speed management
Victoria’s campaign on speeding: results Rolling 12 month average
Why are we above the national target? • National Road Safety Action Plan for 2007 & 2008 many cost-effective measures: • have not been implemented or • have not been implemented in all jurisdictions or • have not been implemented on a sufficient scale • The target was an estimate of what could be achieved not a forecast of what would be
Is the national target still in range? • Average annual percentage reduction to meet targetover 10 years: 5.0% • Average annual percentage reduction to May 2007: 2.8% • Average annual percentage reduction required from now to 2010: 8.8% • Total percentage reduction required from now to 2010: 28% “If I wanted to get to there, I wouldn’t start from here.”
The challenge • On average, 31 people die on Australia’s roads every week • More than 10 times as many people are seriously injured • These numbers could be much lower • Many available options for improving safety would result in a net economic benefit • We would probably have a more efficient and reliable road transport system with reduced greenhouse emissions and noxious emissions • We have the outcomes that we have because, as a society, we have made certain choices.