The Australasian Parliamentary Road Safety Committees organised a two day seminar in early April that focussed on both global and local road safety issues. Hosted by the Parliament of New South Wales’ ‘Staysafe Committee’ in Sydney, the seminar brought together road safety experts and MPs from across the states of Australia.
The FIA Foundation’s Director General David Ward gave an overview of developments in global road safety, outlining the initiatives taken by the UN Road Safety Collaboration and explaining the work of the Commission for Global Road Safety. Pointing out that Australia has a great reputation as an innovator in road safety, being the first to adopt mandatory seat belt use and random breath testing, he highlighted the country’s potential world role in road safety issues. ‘There is a great opportunity” he said, “for Australia to extend this pioneering role to a global level, and, in particular for the Australian Development Agency (AusAid) to get more involved in road safety promotion”. He hoped that this global agenda would also be picked up at the APEC Transport Minister’s meeting that will be hosted by Adelaide, Australia in March 2007.
The Chairman of the Staysafe Committee, Paul Gibson MP, stressed the role of the Parliamentary Committees in supporting Australia’s ten year national road safety strategy. This was adopted in 2001 and aims to reduce the annual number of fatalities per 100,000 population by at least 40 per cent, from 9.3 per cent in 1999 to no more than 5.6 in 2010. By September last year the road fatality rate was 8.0 deaths per 100,000 against an expected progress rate of 7.3. In February there had been a 4% increase in road deaths which Paul Gibson found worrying. He stressed that greater commitment to road safety would be essential to achieve the 2010 target.
Also participating in the Sydney meeting were Lauchlan McIntosh of the Australian Automobile Association, Alan Evans, President of the NRMA, Professor Ian Johnston of the Monash University Accident Research Centre, Professor Mark Stevenson of the George Institute for international Health, Professor Raphael Grzebieta of the Australasian College of Road Safety, and Lori Mooren of the ARRB. The event was organised by Ian Faulks, Manager of the Staysafe Committee.