AUSTRALASIAN COLLEGE OF ROAD SAFETY INC.
ABN: 12 841 412 581
Patron: Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia
Australia Failing to Meet Targets for the Decade
“Australia is failing to reduce deaths and injury targets, despite setting what was seen
as a reasonable objective a decade ago”; said Lauchlan McIntosh the President of the
Australasian College of Road Safety at the opening of the College’s Annual
Conference held in Perth today.
“Our results are like the proverbial “curates’ egg”; he said, “good in parts”.
“Unfortunately since January 2001, 14,169 people have been killed in road crashes
thousands more injured, many permanently. The graph which follows shows how we
have failed nationally against our own target” he said.
Mr McIntosh said there were signs that all States were attempting to embrace a
systems approach to setting and meeting targets. He congratulated the WA
Government’s endorsement of the Towards Zero road safety strategy for 2008–2020.
The Conference of over 100 practitioners, professionals and academics from a range
of disciplines involved in road safety would demonstrate that there are many known
solutions which must be implemented with leadership and systematic coordination to
allow a new challenging national target for reduction of death and injuries to be set
for the next decade.
The College had recently published in its Journal a range of suggestions from
specialists in universities as well as users including motorcyclists, motorists, truckers,
pedestrians to assist Government set a reduction target for the next decade.
“Changes to our road infrastructure, to vehicles as well as the introduction of new
training methods and also a wide range of new technologies will be necessary to
reduce unnecessary death and injury. National infrastructure spending must focus on
safer outcomes” he said
Mr McIntosh said “We know what to do; but we have to have the community and our
leaders recognise what can be done and commit to doing it. He said the College was
expecting that the new National Road Safety Council would soon take a leadership
role and the College had offered to assist.”
“The College would also offer strong support for the international call for a “Decade
of Action on Road Safety” to assist in reducing road trauma world wide.” he said.
ACRS Press Release EMBARGOED for release 0900Thursday 5th November 2009
Contact Lauchlan McIntosh 0418 424886
( Mr McIntosh will be at the Duxton Hotel in Perth at the Conference and available
for interviews)
Road Death Rate Against National Road Safety Strategy Target
(Deaths per 100,000 population)
5
6
7
8
9
10
Actual rate as at
Sep 09: 7.5
Pro rata target rate as a
Sep 09: 6.
Target
Source: Analysis of Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Australia Bureau of Statistics data
NEWS 
