Tailgating cameras, cement barriers and a speed limit cut suggested as road safety improvements

Cameras to catch tailgaters and mobile phone users, and cutting speed limits have been raised as ways to protect vulnerable road users across the state.

CATCHING tailgaters on speed cameras, reducing the speed limit in urban areas and around schools to 30km/h and replacing wire rope barriers with cement ones are just some of the recommendations to come into a Legislative Council inquiry into road safety.

Chair and Launceston MLC Rosemary Armitage said almost 100 individuals and groups had made submissions to the inquiry.

Bicycle Tasmania said the state needed to transform its transport planning approach from one focused on speed and convenience to one focused on the safety of all road users.

The group made seven recommendations, including that parliament amends legislation to permit the adoption of camera technology to capture drivers using mobile phones and issue fines.

Martin George asked that cameras be mounted on tailgating hot spots, such as Launceston’s Southern Outlet, to detect tailgaters.

Bicycle Tasmania and Safe Streets to School both want a cut to speed limits.

“Please separate our kids from fast-moving traffic so they can walk or ride to school safely. We are asking that within 2km of every school there are pedestrian priority crossings and footpaths on streets with speed limits 40km/h and higher or 30km/h limits for streets without,” Safe Streets to School wrote.

The introduction of a new motorcycle training program that included an on-road component has resulted in a huge drop in MAIB claims. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

The Tasmania Motorcycle Council criticised the government’s slowness to provide funding for a TV campaign directed at bikers but said the introduction of a new motorcycle training program that included an on-road component in 2017 had resulted in MAIB claims falling from 125 a year to 38 in 2020-21.

“There had been one motorcycle fatality when we requested funding there has now been seven,” the submission said.

“Could the committee also look into the use of wire rope barriers on the highway compared to using cement. Wire rope is cheaper but works out a lot dearer over time.”

Ms Armitage said the number of fatalities on Tasmanian roads had remained stubbornly high over the past decade and it appeared current strategies had not delivered the desired result.

“But this is about more than statistics. Each and every fatality and serious accident on our roads is a tragedy that affects friends and family for many years,” she said.

“The emotional and financial cost to the community is massive and we need to look for solutions to the challenges we face.

“Shortly, the inquiry will hold hearings and I look forward to talking to community members and stakeholders regarding how to tackle this issue.”

RACT chief advocacy officer Garry Bailey said its submission covered what it considered were the key areas – speed, enforcement and deterrence, roads, vehicles, and vulnerable road users.

“In all, we have made 38 recommendations to the committee, including establishing an independent State Roads Authority to manage our road network,” Mr Bailey said.

“We can’t go on as we are with a per capita rate of road fatalities that is twice as high as Victoria’s. The fact is, we need fresh thinking and new ideas that are evidence-based and data-driven. This is the perfect opportunity to review, re-evaluate and reset.”