ANCAP wants drivers to take ownership

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program says the onus of reducing road fatalities and trauma starts with the person behind the wheel.

As Australia records a reduction in the number of people killed in road crashes in 2018, including Victoria Police which has acknowledged only twelve lives lost “Operation Roadwise” (Dec 14-Jan16) and NSW which recorded a 10% road toll reduction from 2017 to 2018, ANCAP says more needs to be done.

Chief executive James Goodwin says the TAC’s commercial asking a stranger “how many lives lost in road crashes is an acceptable number?” should be taken seriously.

“Why do we accept that people will die on our roads every year? Every day?” he asks.

“We farewelled 2018, we also farewelled 1144 people who died while using Australia’s roads – most of these deaths were not a result of deliberate criminal or reckless activities,” Goodwin reminds us.

“They were ordinary people who didn’t expect to kill someone when they got in their car, or to be killed by someone else making a mistake,” he says.

Referencing the nation’s road trauma reduction targets of 30% by 2020, and the fact Victoria and NSW among other states reduced their 2018 state road tolls, Goodwin says “road fatalities and serious injuries remain at rates above that needed to meet the target.”

He says the 30-year annual road fatality reduction from 22.3 to 6.1 deaths per 100,000 population is a statistic we should appreciate, but not be complacent about.

“The overall long-term downward trend is encouraging, but it’s estimated another 6000 lives will be lost over the next five years on Australia’s roads – a shocking projection,” he says.

“If we reduce the average age of our vehicles by just one year over a four-year period, 1377 lives could be saved. We must empower all road users to make safer vehicle choices and understand today’s vehicles have the ability to prevent crashes,” Goodwin explains.

“This can only be achieved by increasing the accessibility and affordability of new cars.

“It’s clear more of the same is not enough,” he concludes.