IMPLICATIONS OF RECENT LEGISLATION FOR STATUTORY ROAD SAFETY AUTHORITIES: A CASE STUDY IN INTELLIGENT SPEED CONTROL MEASURES

Statutory highway authorities owe a duty of care to provide a safe road environment for operators of motor vehicles. This duty of care is judged against what should be provided by a "reasonable statutory authority", given the identification of a hazardous situation, and encompasses a decision to act ; and the taking of appropriate action. Until recently, while a statutory authority could be held responsible for misfeasance (acting carelessly), it could not be held responsible for nonfeasance (a pure failure to act). However with the recent abolition of the nonfeasance rule in Victoria, the implications are that statutory authorities must take a more proactive approach in the prevention of dangerous actions occurring. This paper examines the implications of this amendment in the law when dealing with high-risk crash sites where excessive vehicle speed is a known contributory factor. A case study is used to illustrate that the failure to enact known intelligent speed mitigation measures such as policing and speed cameras could potentially render a violation of the duty of care under the nonfeasance ruling. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E209619.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0646419919
• Corporate Authors:

  Transport SA, Australia

  Safety Strategy, P.O. Box 1
  Walkerville 5081, South Australia,   Australia 
• Authors:
  • LANGDON, N
  • GREAVES, S
  • Grzebieta, R
• Publication Date: 2002

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 131-7 (VOL 1)
• Serial:
  • ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH, POLICING AND EDUCATION CONFERENCE, 2002, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA
  • Publisher: Transport SA, Australia

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adaptive control; Autonomous intelligent cruise control; Conferences; Crimes; Districts and authorities; High risk locations; Intelligent transportation systems; Legislation; Longitudinal control; Photography; Police; Safety; Speed; Transportation departments
• Geographic Terms: Australia
• ITRD Terms: 1663: Accident black spot; 1451: Adaptive cruise control; 8006: Australia; 8525: Conference; 8735: Intelligent transport system; 1556: Legislation; 1516: Offence; 6751: Photography; 1522: Police; 1665: Safety; 5408: Speed; 253: Transport authority
• Subject Areas: Law; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00967498
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• ISBN: 0-646-41991-9
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 13 2004 12:00AM