“Australia can do better,” says NTC

In a submission to the draft National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020, the National Transport Commission (NTC) is urging the Federal Government to aim higher by increasing its road safety targets. The NTC’s submission claims that although the majority of actions identified within the strategy have been allocated to government, it is not always clear who is accountable for the funding, implementation and effectiveness of these initiatives.

“Clear accountability for the proposed actions is crucial to the success of the strategy,” said NTC Senior Manager, Dr Jeff Potter.

“The NTC welcomes the release of the draft strategy but it believes Australia can do better than the outlined 30 percent target in road trauma reduction,” said NTC Senior Manager, Dr Jeff Potter.

“Australia has long been regarded as a leader in road safety and has achieved outcomes equal to or better than the majority of countries worldwide. However, despite a large reduction in road deaths over the past decade, we are no longer ranked among the ten best performing nations internationally.

“The strategy should also harness the potential of groups outside of government to improve road safety. We believe that transport operators, users and the wider community are capable of having a huge influence in improving the safety of our roads.”

The NTC supports the adoption of safe system principles to underpin the strategy, but hopes to see the strategy’s vision better reflect this ethos by not accepting that death or serious injury is an inevitable consequence of using the road system.

“Nobody should have to die or be seriously injured on Australia’s roads,” said Dr Potter.

“The National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 is an important step in the right direction, but further refinement of the strategy will strengthen its impact.”