The Make Roads Safe campaign has been featured ‘down under’ at Australian road safety events in Perth and Melbourne. Speaking at a road safety forum during the annual meeting of the Australian Automobile Association in Perth, the FIA Foundation’s David Ward gave the delegates from Australia’s eight state automobile clubs an overview of the campaign’s progress this year. He outlined the major recommendations of the Commission for Global Road Safety and highlighted the importance of next year’s UN General Assembly discussion of a possible Ministerial Conference.
Keynote speaker at the AAA Forum was the Hon John Kobelke, Western Australia’s Minister for Road Safety who described the State’s recently launched public consultation on a road safety strategy for 2008 – 2020. The draft strategy ‘Towards Zero, Getting There Together’, issued by the WA’s Office of Road Safety, has been developed by the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC). Now in discussion in community meetings across the state, the strategy highlights the casualty reduction potential of four policy cornerstones of a ‘safe systems’ approach, with safe road use providing a 12% contribution, safe roads 23%, safe speeds 29%, and safer vehicles a further 15%. If fully implemented it is estimated that the strategy could reduce annual numbers of people killed and seriously injured by 50% which would result in 16,000 fewer fatalities over the next 12 years.
Read the 'Towards Zero, Getting There Together' draft strategy (pdf / 3mb) >
Moving from Perth to Melbourne, David Ward then participated as guest speaker at the 20th anniversary celebration of MUARC . Held at the RACV Club in Melbourne, the gala dinner brought together the key partners of the State of Victoria’s internationally renowned road safety community, together with Professor Richard Larkins, President of Monash University, Clive Hall President of the RACV and the State’s Governor Professor David De Kretser. In his speech David Ward highlighted MUARC’s “enviable reputation as one of the world’s leading centres in accident prevention research based on the expertise of its team led previously by Professors Peter Vulcan, Claes Tingval, Ian Johnston and now Rod McClure”.
Describing MUARC’s recent report on the effectiveness of Electronic Stability Control (see separate story) and its proposals for the Western Australia road safety strategy as prime example of the centre’s work, David Ward highlighted the way in which “science and evidence based research is being used to support practical policymaking in partnership with government, road users, industry and civil society”. His speech explained recent progress in putting road safety higher up the agenda of the international community and congratulated AusAid for its recent decision to contribute to the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility. He also urged MUARC, the State of Victoria and the Australian Government to play an even greater role promoting the ‘safe systems’ approach at a world level in road injury prevention.
Read David Ward's speech summary at MUARC (pdf / 100kb) >