Melinda Pavey: Road toll hits home for those who never return
EVERY 41 minutes someone is killed or hospitalised on our roads, and with just under 72 hours remaining in 2017, the year will be marked by the tragic road toll in NSW.
Opinion
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ANOTHER text message pops up, this time it is “truck breakdown”. It reads easier than some of the other traffic incident alerts I get, such as “car rollover”, “persons trapped” or “confirmed fatal”.
It’s a sickening feeling when the screen on my phone lights up to remind me of another person who won’t be going home to their family.
Every 41 minutes someone is killed or hospitalised on our roads, and with just under 72 hours remaining in 2017, the year will be marked by the tragic road toll in NSW.
Since the launch of Operation Safe Arrival on December 15, a shocking 21 people have died, seven in the past 48 hours. That’s someone’s daughter, son, mother, father, sibling or relative who won’t see the new year in.
The total road toll this year is just over 380. To put that in context, the average (between 2014 to 2016) is 350.
Road casualties in NSW are costing our community an estimated $7 billion.
That is an enormous strain on frontline emergency services and you, the taxpayer.
Clearly the message is not getting through to motorists. Unless we collectively start to change our attitude to this issue and shift our behaviour, we would have learnt nothing this time next year.
We have a clear target: reduce road fatalities and injuries by 30 per cent by 2021. Our ultimate goal is zero deaths and zero injuries on the state’s roads.
Right now, we are in the midst of finalising a new road safety plan designed to meet that target and ultimately save lives.
We already have high levels of police enforcement and have released targeted campaigns aiming to address drink-driving and driver-distraction habits.
Making our roads safer, whether in Bourke or Bankstown, Cooma or Camden, the lives of road users matter — which is why we’re spreading the $282 million road safety budget across the state.
Earlier this year we launched the “your last text message” campaign to highlight the impact mobile phone distraction is having on drivers.
We also toughened sanctions on those who repeatedly flout driver’s licence laws, and introduced legislation to trial autonomous vehicles to look at new modes of transport.
It is a collective approach to tackling this issue.
While country residents make up only one-third of the NSW population, two-thirds of all fatalities occur on country roads.
That is why we invested in the first ever country road safety campaign this year — Saving Lives on Country Roads.
We are continuing to invest $137 million for upgrades on the Princes Hwy, including completing the Berry bypass, and a further $1.5 billion to continue the Pacific Hwy upgrade, as well as $58 million for upgrades of the Newell Hwy.
There are potentially other policy levers we can consider as part of this plan to support police enforce the law and help change behaviours. Road safety is and will continue to be a shared responsibility, a partnership between government and motorists.
We can build better roads, and car manufacturers can use technology to help improve vehicle safety standards, but unless drivers take a more active approach to reducing speed, not drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and stop getting distracted by their mobile phone then the number of deaths on our roads will sadly remain high.
Before you get on the road with your friends and family, slow down, take a break every two hours and put the phone away — out of sight and out of mind.
Melinda Pavey is the Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight.