mavss

Not the sort of statistic you want to be leading in but as of now, 18 Victorian's have lost their lives during the holiday period.

This represents more than 1/3 of all deaths on Australian roads.

I can't put my finger on the cause of such a dramatic rise - it's usually NSW that's lead in the past - but at least we can take some heart in the fact that there will be around 50 less Victorian deaths than last year.

Let's keep it safe on the road peeps & have a wonderful 2003.

MavSS

Rollin

must be all those crazy mo' fo' people doing 3km/h over the limit!!! not like the NT where there are no limits on most of the roads and yet 0 people dead.

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JG33

Good to see the money they are making from speed camera's are saving lives.

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JG33PY

it is soooooooooo hard not to be sarcastic when you read about and see these stats on the news. the question STILL has to be asked, how the hell does a van hidden on the roadside prevent some one from doing 3km/h over limit?
my only concern now that N.T. have had a change of guvmint will fall into line with all the other revenue raisers. remember they still have .08 as well.

BIGBADAU

If you seen the way some of the Victorians drove on QLD roads it wouldnt surprise you on how many deaths there has been so far on victorian roads. While i was away on holidays i seen about 4 Victorian drivers overtaking on double line streches of road.

And when you travelling in the NT you see a lot less traffic, then what you would see in lets say for example Victoria. This is probarly why there are less accidents.

chevypower

I emailed VIc Roads regarding the 3km/h issue as well as the ridiculous fines, and slow speed limits. The response was as follows:

I refer to your recent email regarding road safety. I apologise for the delay in replying.
The reduction in the default urban speed limit from 60 km/h to 50 km/h was introduced to reduce road trauma particularly for pedestrians. The lower speed limit has resulted in a 13 per cent reduction in casualty crashes for all road users, and a 46 per cent reduction in serious and fatal crashes involving pedestrians.
The posted speed limit is the maximum speed at which motorists may travel under ideal conditions. Depending on the level of traffic activity, road and light conditions or weather, motorists may need to travel at a lower speed.

The new 50 km/h default urban speed limit applies to local government roads. Some local councils chose to retain 60 km/h on some of their busier
roads. If you wish to discuss the speed limit on any particular local road, you should approach the local council.

Recent research by Monash University Accident Research Centre found that Australia still has a high urban speed limit compared to many other developed countries.

Speeding is a major contributor to trauma. Research both in Australia and overseas shows a strong relationship between speed and road safety. Higher vehicle speeds are associated with longer stopping distances and greater
impact forces, which result in an increased risk of crashes and
greater
crash severities. The research shows that even a small increase in speed can increase crash risk significantly. In a 60 km/h zone, for example, the research shows that for every 5 km/h increase in travel speed above the 60
km/h limit, the risk of crash involvement doubles.

The onus is on motorists to travel at or below the speed limit.
This
inevitably involves periodic checking of the speedometer to
ensure an
appropriate travel speed is maintained. This is a fundamental
requirement
of the driving task.

The management of speed and reducing the incidence of speeding is a major component of arrive alive! Victoria's Road Safety Strategy 2002 - 2007, which aims to reduce the road toll by 20% over this period. This Strategy
can be accessed at http://www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au

Thank you for your interest in road safety.

Yours sincerely


Nick Szwed
Manager Road Engineering Safety


OK NOW MY THOUGHTS

Does he want to change his views now after seeing recent statistics? And if Safety is a concern, have a look at towing regs, where currently a Falcon is allowed to pull 2300kg, Sorry thats bulldust, you need an SUV to pull something that heavy safely.

Next, I was talking about Interstate speed limits, not urban speed limits. How about comparing speed limits to countries such as Canada, USA, and other large modern countries rather than England, where roads are windy and narrow and the country is small and very populated.

The rest of the bullcrap is pretty self-explanatory.

Cheers,

Alex

BIGBADAU

I agree Alex about your point on the Falcon 2300 Kg towing capactiy, and personally i dont think you should be able to tow anything in the holiday season at all (sorry to you people who tow caravans around the place) because i am sick of these people who do 80 to 90 km per hour in a 100 zone. Caravans should be banned and if people wanna do that kind of thing, they should only be allowed to use a motor home, even though they arent much better i feel they they are safer then having a big caravan being towed behind a Falcon or a Commodore.

Anyways the people should wake up to themselves, they are only straining the cars to death.

strife

I like how every one quotes the NT example

Dont forget the NT represents about 1 % or less of the australian population and also about 0.8% of the vehicle population

here is a quote from the blackspot program 1996-2002 evaluation report

"..The Northern Territory's road safety record was the worst in Australia for number of fatalities by any criteria and ranked below all OECD nations for number of fatalities per 100 000 people. For number of fatalities per 10 000 registered vehicles, the Northern Territory ranked higher than only Turkey and Korea, and higher only than Turkey for number of fatalities per 100 million kilometres-travelled. .."

http://www.dotars.gov.au/btre/docs/r...m/chapter3.htm

russellw

Sadly the bad Christmas on Victorian roads is a double tragedy. Not only are the deaths a senseless waste but they will no doubt provide suitable ammunition for the next phase of the Police State in Mexico.

I wonder what charming little surprises lay ahead of us?

Ford4Eva

First thing, sorry to all those families that have lost loved ones on the road this Christmas/New Year's period.

Second thing: To the government. You have been exposed. Your scam has been exposed. Speed cameras, take off 5 and stay alive and your harsh speeding stance has not helped at all. How about giving some of this revenue back to the people who use our roads via driver education, more coffee stops on highways and introduce a reward program regarding road safety rather than a punishment set up.

Once again I feel for those who have lost their loved ones on Victorian roads.

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