Driver behaviour and attitude is a key factor

Whilst we can be proud as a Nation that our road toll has reduced over the past decade, the number of serious accidents has not reduced, and this cannot be ignored. An urgent focus needs to be placed on creating a "responsible" culture of drivers on our roads. A vehicle cannot be driven without a driver. Yet little credibility is placed on the value of focusing on improving driver education to improve road safety. It has been disappointing to see whenever this subject is raised in the road safety industry it is instantly dismissed by many. It would appear this thinking has come about because of statements such as "even the most competent driver will still make mistakes", so the focus has been to remove the driver from the equation, in an effort to reduce the risk. Whilst all drivers can make mistakes, what needs to be considered is that "aware drivers" have the ability to manage and correct those mistakes, and most importantly, can often anticipate the mistakes of other drivers. The Safe System Approach as part of the National Road Safety Strategy is yet to realise its full potential when it comes to Safer People. It is far more effective to avoid crashes in the first place by adopting lower risk driving techniques. In this regard, enthusiasts aim to be recognised as the leaders in safe driving practice and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this as part of the 2015 conference.

• Record URL:
  http://acrs.org.au/publications/acrs-conference-papers/acrs-database/
• Authors:
  • Littler, S
  • Styles, P
  • Bryden, R
  • Kuerschner, J
• Conference:
  • Australasian Road Safety Conference, 1st, 2015, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
• Publication Date: 2015-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 5p
• Monograph Title: Taking action together: 1st Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2015), 14-16 October, Gold Coast, Queensland

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Driver performance; Drivers; Education; High risk drivers; Risk taking; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Safe systems (road users)
• Geographic Terms: Australia
• ATRI Terms: Crash countermeasure; Crash proneness; Driver behaviour; Driver performance; Risk taking
• ITRD Terms: 1661: Accident prevention
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01591398
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 26 2016 9:19AM