We are continually bombarded with messaging in this country telling us that ‘Every K over is a Killer’, or words to that effect. In other words, speeding on our roads is killing people. Maybe there’s a bit of truth in this but it’s not the whole story by any means.
The problem is that, whilst this, and similar, catch phrases are being thrust upon us, a much bigger issue is doing far more damage in my view. And it’s being deliberately ignored by almost every government in Australia – road worthiness testing, and the lack of it.
Yup, Australia trails most of the developed world in safety standards in a major way. Only the USA is worse at regularly enforcing standards on used cars amongst westernized countries.
The norm across most of the developed world is that every car and light commercial vehicle is tested for applicable road safety and pollution standards at the third anniversary of first registration and then again either annually or biannually. This is regardless of any sale or purchase of a car. In Australia, it is only New South Wales that has a comparable scheme, and that starts when a car is five years old rather than three.
Excluding transfers of state of registration and/or registered keeper, other states have no regular system for testing cars and light commercials. Why? I assume politics lies behind this, and a fear of alienating some voters. And yet, there is nothing more dangerous than a car running, even under the speed limit, with bald tyres, sticking shock absorbers, knackered wiper blades and half its lighting broken. And then it rains…
In the country of my birth, Ireland, they were late arrivals to the party. Until 2000 there was no vehicle testing taking place. This was because the government was scared of losing votes, particularly in rural areas. However, when the European Union suggested that the Irish needed to put a system in place, it happened relatively quickly (starting with older vehicles and gradually working back to cover everything over three years old) and the population accepted it and saw the upside.
The regular testing of cars over the age of three years can and will save lives on Australian roads.
We have a death rate here of 4.5 per 100,000 people. That’s a long way from the worst, of course, but it’s approximately 60 per cent higher than the UK or Ireland. Clearly the UK, in particular, is far more crowded than Australia. Available data shows that the density of vehicles per kilometre of road in the UK is about four times greater than here. So, their safety record is surely something that we should be aspiring to at least match. If we did match that fatality rate, then we’d be saving around 450 lives per year.
Of course, there are other factors at work here in the comparison between the UK and Australia. But one thing that isn’t the point of difference is speed limits and speed limit enforcement. The UK enforces limits for sure, but in nowhere near such a draconian way as Australian states.
Driver education is certainly a part of the puzzle, and that’s something for another column as we don’t do a good enough job here. But the biggest stand out point of difference is the road worthiness testing regime. This helps keep the general condition of the vehicle fleet at a reasonable level and that feeds directly into the ability of each driver to actively avoid an accident rather than purely relying on passive safety features.
Rather than each state and territory coming up with its own semi unique plan for an enhanced system of road worthiness testing, the federal government should agree with them all on a standardized test as soon as possible (it’s not hard) and then start a roll out plan nationwide. The average age of cars and light vehicles in Australia is about 10 years. So, roll out a compulsory annual test for all relevant vehicles that are 10 years old or more in the first wave. Then lower that age annually until we get to three years old.
Every competent car service shop, independent as well as franchised, should be able to apply for a licence to perform the testing so as to ensure a good spread of availability for end users across the country. Within a decade, Australia could make the single biggest step possible towards reducing the fatality rate on our roads. It’s highly achievable and, even without considering the huge potential for saving emotional trauma for so many families, the savings in financial terms would be huge.
It’s time for politics to be parked and common sense to lead the way.
Roland
Good article ,,, however it is not speed that kills ..its stopping
As you know every k over increases stopping distance and thats the problem.. people crash because they dont stop.
Yes distraction is the major behavioural contributor ( 40% + ) followed by fatigue and impairment … but IMHO the biggest problem is people not understanding the simple physics that your energy is a factor of speed squared and that 10ks over means you still have half your speed when you crash.
You are well respected and it would help if people like yourself reinforced the message that the speed limit is a maximum not a minimum and that a small increase makes a massive difference to impact and the resulting life changing consequences suffered by families every day .
Appreciate you have given allot to the sport and like many of us are trying to give back as and where we can
Cheers
Laurie
( long time mediocre club racer / MA OLT assessor / Corporate driving risk coach/ assessor )
Reducing it to the most basic and blaming speed misses the point that it it not speed that kills, it is innapropriate speed. Speeding to a level that exceeds your competence, not taking into account road, traffic and weather conditions, driving when fatigued or impaired.
It is not so simple as saying 10 kph ove rthe limit is a problem, it might be in a truck or a Model T Ford but in the latest cars fitted with collsion avoidance, ABS, stability control, lane assist etc it is not having he basic competence to have actually turned these systems on or adjusted them to suit the weather conditions that is a bigger issue. The real problem – a big portion of drivers are really stupid.
The problem with annual checks is all the busted arse farmer vehicles and clapped opel mining vehicles that sneek around back roads in places like coober. Also there is a lot of indigenous vehicles out bush that would have to be put off the road. You can’t put all these vehicles off the road and expect poor people to survive.
The problem with annual checks is all the busted arse farmer vehicles and clapped opel mining vehicles that sneek around back roads in places like coober pedy. Also there is a lot of indigenous vehicles out bush that would have to be put off the road. You can’t put all these vehicles off the road and expect poor people to survive.
I just had a quick look at the Qld Road Fatality Statistics and for the life of me I can’t see how this opinion piece is in any way related in fact.
In Year 2022, 29.3% of road fatalities were directly related to speed, 21.9% related to alcohol and 20.5% drug use. As such, 70% of all road fatalities are directly related to driver behaviour or a driver acting in a manner that is contrary to the safe operation of a motor vehicle.
The next 21.5% relates to driver distraction (mobile phones and kids) and fatigue.
Where it could be argued unroadworthy or a fault with a vehicle could have contributed to the severity of an accident, the primary reason for the fatality still relates to driver behaviour / condition, not the state of the motor vehicle itself.
Am I reading this article correctly?
Does the thrust of RD’s argument revolve around further regulation of the industry and if so, where is the benefit and would it actually result in a situation where road fatalities would go down?
Again, if we have a look at the actual statistics in relationship to the opinion piece, the majority of citizens who largely comply with safe driving practices would be forced into a new regulatory regime where even relatively new cars would need to have additional inspections that exceed the requirements of the car manufacturers themselves.
If we look at ADR testing and the effect of speed in the severity of road accidents, the constant rule of physics will always be the primary contributing factor in fatalities.
Who gains from RD us suggesting? The motor industry or Mr and Mrs average citizen?
For those who have been affected by road fatalities or more importantly for those who have innocently been affected by the behaviour of another driver, I think this opinion piece requires more clarification on the arguments presented.
I would actually like to see a response related to statistics and research.
I’m with RD. If you get your car serviced regularly then you are having those checks done automatically as lights, tyres, brakes etc are checked at least every 15,000kms or 12 months or more frequently as the manufacturer’s service schedule recommends. It’s those who don’t religiously apply that regime who ARE The Problem along with alcohol, drugs, mobile phones etc. QED.
The statistics tell us otherwise. Driver behaviour / condition represents the primary contributing factor in 90% of all road fatalities.
Correct …. unfortunately rather than taking the time to understand the facts of any given situation , most people tend to believe what they are told and most think that because they believe in something it must be true .
If drivers were more aware of the facts and reminded themselves everyday of the consequences ( as pilots do each time they fly ) the trauma on our roads would be significantly lower.
Great article but when you say road worthiness it brings to mind an even bigger issue – the roads are not worthy of being driven on.
The other big issues being missed is are fatigue, competence irrespective of age and competence due to age or infirmity. We should be tested more often at our own expense to make sure we are competent to drive.
With respect to fatigue, there has been mention of raising the speed limit on Motorway quality roads such as the Hume and Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Melbourne to reduce journey times.
We also need to stop solely listening to Victorian University road safety groups which was constructed by teh Victorian government to justify revenue raising, pedestrian and pushbike groups to decide our road safety policy. We have seen what they all want, 20 kph everywhere and governments use this to justify cutting road repair and constructon budgets.
The problem with warrant of fitness system (wof) currently in nz is that vehicle owners think that the responsibility is taken off the owner because their car passed its annual wof and they don’t need to check tyres or anything, the responsibility needs to be on vehicle owner to have vehicle maintened and fit to be on road, in nz wof does not allow for removal of wheels or anything. Lower speed limits and enforcement isn’t working in nz because it creates more people overtaking dangerously and frustration, test drivers on their skill say every five years, teach drivers how to control their car. Education is key