Aotearoa has one of the worst road safety records in the developed world. Australia is doing quite a bit better. What can we learn from our Aussie cousins?
thanks for illuminating approaches to road casualty minimisation in Queensland.
There are many factors leading to poor driving outcomes in New Zealand.
Some behaviours seem to be NZ specific, in that they do not often occur in other countries. (For example, Deaths following Road rage seem to happen in most countries, but NZ seems to exceed every else for Ram raids.)
NZ roading authorities have used an approach to road safety called the 3 Es - Enforcement, Engineering, Education, which doesn't include Cultural factors.
For 30years almost most roads money has been on Engineering in attempts to make roads less difficult to drive over, so even a beginner can drive on almost any highway.
NZTA tried to design-out danger on highways through road rebuilds and engineering, at great expense. The number of people killed and injured reduced a bit, but tolerance of poor driving seems to be high to me.
Positive results are isolated to a location, so have little impact on total casualties.
A re-think is needed.
One cultural factor is driver Attitude. Some kiwis when driving still exhibit the "she'll be right" approach to road safety.
Also many kiwi drivers imagine themselves to be better drivers than average ( reported the AA in its annual member survey 25 years ago ). I have no reason to think this has changed.
Over-confidence is another cultural factor.
To me kiwis are also less good at risk assessment.
Assessments are made while driving all the time.
Why kiwi drivers choose riskier actions is the main question for road casualty reduction.
Other factors include;
1. temperament of drivers, patience, awareness
2. diet (not just whether or not morning coffees has occured, nor whether consuming loads of carbohyhrates affects more than gum health)
3. alcohol
4. drugs
Road casualties are unlikely to change much until factors un-related to location are addressed.
Is there an example to follow to improve our culture while driving?
How about copying tactics used for Smokefree, which is a fairly sizable success at changing national cultural attitude ?
Yes enforcement similar to Queensland could help, but I doubt that NZ road authorities and traffic police can bring themselves to put more money and effort into changing driver culture than anything else.
A most interesting comparison, Darren. Another part of the jigsaw is how to catch dangerous drivers and what to do with them when they are caught. I suspect that in New Zealand they would just drive a car licensed to someone else - with impunity much of the time. It seems that in NZ the government uses traffic fines money to pay for tax cuts. Has Nicola Willis missed an opportunity here?
Fascinating numbers. Not a surprise, though so disappointing. I also don’t understand why there isn’t compulsory third-party insurance for drivers in New Zealand. It would prevent inexperienced drivers getting very powerful cars that they can’t control. It would also mean that people who were caught up in thetheir accidents are compensated.
Thanks. Yep, Compulsory Third Party insurance is mandatory in Australia, along with novice drivers requiring P plates with additional restrictions on speed during their first years of driving.
Thank you for such a clear comparison! I always wonder whether we shoukd all take a theory and simulation test (if not practical, too) every time we update the photo on out licences. Pre-emptive education v. post-transgression enforcement?
Also, I'm not sure whether this is still the case, but when I lived in Sydney (2001-2004) the NSW rules also covered licenced passengers. E.g. if there are 4 ppl with licences in a car, all drunk and unbelted, every one of them would get fined on the basis that they are all obliged to ensure that the car is being operated safely, not just the driver.
Interesting thoughts. Road rules evolve over time but we are only tested once when we are initially licensed. For me, this was 1987 in Victoria and I converted my Victorian licence to an NZ licence in 1993 by answering three theory questions. This year, I converted my NZ licence to a Queensland licence, no questions asked. A theory retest with relicensing would cover part of that gap.
thanks for illuminating approaches to road casualty minimisation in Queensland.
There are many factors leading to poor driving outcomes in New Zealand.
Some behaviours seem to be NZ specific, in that they do not often occur in other countries. (For example, Deaths following Road rage seem to happen in most countries, but NZ seems to exceed every else for Ram raids.)
NZ roading authorities have used an approach to road safety called the 3 Es - Enforcement, Engineering, Education, which doesn't include Cultural factors.
For 30years almost most roads money has been on Engineering in attempts to make roads less difficult to drive over, so even a beginner can drive on almost any highway.
NZTA tried to design-out danger on highways through road rebuilds and engineering, at great expense. The number of people killed and injured reduced a bit, but tolerance of poor driving seems to be high to me.
Positive results are isolated to a location, so have little impact on total casualties.
A re-think is needed.
One cultural factor is driver Attitude. Some kiwis when driving still exhibit the "she'll be right" approach to road safety.
Also many kiwi drivers imagine themselves to be better drivers than average ( reported the AA in its annual member survey 25 years ago ). I have no reason to think this has changed.
Over-confidence is another cultural factor.
To me kiwis are also less good at risk assessment.
Assessments are made while driving all the time.
Why kiwi drivers choose riskier actions is the main question for road casualty reduction.
Other factors include;
1. temperament of drivers, patience, awareness
2. diet (not just whether or not morning coffees has occured, nor whether consuming loads of carbohyhrates affects more than gum health)
3. alcohol
4. drugs
Road casualties are unlikely to change much until factors un-related to location are addressed.
Is there an example to follow to improve our culture while driving?
How about copying tactics used for Smokefree, which is a fairly sizable success at changing national cultural attitude ?
Yes enforcement similar to Queensland could help, but I doubt that NZ road authorities and traffic police can bring themselves to put more money and effort into changing driver culture than anything else.
A most interesting comparison, Darren. Another part of the jigsaw is how to catch dangerous drivers and what to do with them when they are caught. I suspect that in New Zealand they would just drive a car licensed to someone else - with impunity much of the time. It seems that in NZ the government uses traffic fines money to pay for tax cuts. Has Nicola Willis missed an opportunity here?
Well written and a very useful comparison.
Fascinating numbers. Not a surprise, though so disappointing. I also don’t understand why there isn’t compulsory third-party insurance for drivers in New Zealand. It would prevent inexperienced drivers getting very powerful cars that they can’t control. It would also mean that people who were caught up in thetheir accidents are compensated.
Thanks. Yep, Compulsory Third Party insurance is mandatory in Australia, along with novice drivers requiring P plates with additional restrictions on speed during their first years of driving.
Thank you for such a clear comparison! I always wonder whether we shoukd all take a theory and simulation test (if not practical, too) every time we update the photo on out licences. Pre-emptive education v. post-transgression enforcement?
Also, I'm not sure whether this is still the case, but when I lived in Sydney (2001-2004) the NSW rules also covered licenced passengers. E.g. if there are 4 ppl with licences in a car, all drunk and unbelted, every one of them would get fined on the basis that they are all obliged to ensure that the car is being operated safely, not just the driver.
Interesting thoughts. Road rules evolve over time but we are only tested once when we are initially licensed. For me, this was 1987 in Victoria and I converted my Victorian licence to an NZ licence in 1993 by answering three theory questions. This year, I converted my NZ licence to a Queensland licence, no questions asked. A theory retest with relicensing would cover part of that gap.