‘Ride to Live’: A message to motorcyclists

On average, four people are killed and 90 are seriously injured every day on Australia’s roads. Almost everyone has, at some stage, been affected by a road crash, official records point out.

As a result, road safety is in the top bracket in Australia’s priority list. State governments conduct planned campaigns to promote road safety. In West Australia (WA), for example, an awareness campaign is now on, targeted at all WA motorcyclists and drivers.

‘Ride to Live’ is the theme of the motorcyclist safety campaign. Its overall goal is to raise the awareness of the risks motorcycle riders face on the road and provide education on how those risks can be reduced.

Studies have revealed that motorcyclists are one of the most vulnerable road users because of their smaller size in comparison to other motor vehicles and their lack of physical protection.

According to recent statistics, 44 motorcyclists were killed and 61 were critically injured as a result of a crash in WA in 2014. This is an increase from 27 in 2013 and 32 in 2012. The majority of both the fatalities (59%) and those who were critically injured in 2014 (70%) were due to crashes in the Metropolitan area.

The campaign launched by the Office of Road Safety covers TV, press and online advertising.

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Federal Government states that the annual economic cost of road crashes in Australia is enormous—estimated at $27 billion per annum—and the social impacts are devastating.

Since record keeping commenced in 1925, there have been over 180,000 deaths on Australia’s roads. However, road trauma levels have declined substantially over the last four decades, despite considerable population growth and a three-fold increase in registered motor vehicles, a report says. During this period, the number of road deaths per year has fallen from 3,798 deaths in 1970 to 1,157 in 2014.

At national level, the National Road Safety Strategy 2011–2020 has been framed by the guiding vision that no person should be killed or seriously injured on Australia’s roads. As a step towards this long-term vision, the strategy presents a 10-year plan to reduce the annual numbers of both deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads by at least 30%.

The strategy outlines broad directions for the future of Australian road safety, planned initiatives for the first three years and a range of options for further consideration as the strategy progresses. The initiatives and options are set out in four key areas—Safe Roads, Safe Speeds, Safe Vehicles and Safe People.

The priority given by the Government of Australia on road safety is amply demonstrated by the fact that responsibilities have been divided amongst several state agencies.

The Australian Government is responsible for regulating safety standards for new vehicles, and for allocating infrastructure resources, including for safety, across the national highway and local road networks.

State and territory governments are responsible for funding, planning, designing and operating the road network; managing vehicle registration and driver licensing systems; and regulating and enforcing road user behaviour.

Local governments have responsibilities for funding, planning, designing and operating the road networks in their local areas.

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development administers vehicle safety standards for new vehicles, road funding, producing national road safety statistics, and coordinating the National Road Safety Strategy.

Meanwhile, a three-year (2015-17) Action Plan has been developed to focus national efforts on activities that will deliver or support significant long-term improvements to the safety of Australia’s road transport system, especially through strategic investment in infrastructure safety, vehicle safety and capacity building work.