Road safety campaigners have called for a new tax on drivers of utes and large SUVs to try and cut the road toll.
Speaking to a Victorian government enquiry into road safety, Dr Ingrid Johnston of the Australasian College of Road Safety has advocated for a levy on larger vehicles because of the role they play in fatal accidents.
Road deaths are on the rise as sales of SUVs and utes surge in Australia, with almost 75 per cent (74.6%) of all new vehicles sold in the first seven months of 2023 falling into those two categories. So, Dr Johnston wants to try and push Australians away from such big vehicles and into smaller and potentially safer models.
“It’s being done elsewhere,” Dr Johnston told the enquiry. “To disincentivise people from purchasing these cars in the first place, you could increase import tax.
“You could try to disincentivise them being used in the middle of cities, so you could have a levy for bringing a vehicle of a certain size. You could increase registration fees.”
According to the latest sales figures, released at the end of July, the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux remain the two best-selling models in the country. The rest of the top 10 selling vehicles for July featured five SUVs, including the Toyota LandCruiser and Prado, as well as the Isuzu D-Max ute. That left the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 as the only small cars amongst the most popular models.
Therefore adding a new levy or tax on utes and SUVs will be an unpopular move, but there is also evidence something needs to be done to cut the road toll. The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) released data in August that highlighted an increase in road fatalities. According to the AAA report, 1234 Australians died on the road in the 12 months to July 2023, an 8.4 per cent increase over the previous 12 month period. This comes despite state governments around the country pushing road safety campaigns with a focus on speeding.
How about we tax ugly over educated over payed nothing better to do with there time bat faced bitches, I saw a picture of this trollop, get out into the real world love, your much safer in a modern larger vehicle.
The road toll has nothing to do with the size of the vehicle and everything to do with the drivers ability. People are being dumbed down therefore becoming stupid drivers. The poor quality of our roads is also a contributing factor.
Absolutely ridiculous idea, cars don’t kill people. People do. Majority of consumers live in the country and do not need more taxes placed on their choice of vehicle just to earn a living. Farmers have it tough enough.
Speed kills until the consequences are harsher nothing will change. You may have 1 or 2 less people affected per car but then that puts more vehicles on the road so more accidents.
The most recent summary of data from Road Trauma Australia states:
“Fatality rates per population declined over the decade by a total of 10.4 per cent (from 5.1 to 4.6). The largest reductions in this rate were in New South Wales (down 20.1 per cent) and in South Australia (down 33.5 per cent).
Vulnerable road user deaths, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclist, have stayed flat over the decade. This is despite more vehicles being on the road – a 24% increase over the last decade.
Single vehicle crashes account for 61% of all road deaths. Overseas data indicates that for vehicle occupants SUVs are 50% safer than traditional cars. The move to SUVs is probably preventing the single vehicle deaths from growing much faster.
Unfortunately the data reported does not include data by vehicle type involved. Comments are therefore potentially based on feeling not fact.