NEWS RELEASE
23 December 2002
Road fatalities only part of the story
Although driver fatigue and inattention are difficult to measure and
enforce, they are still important influencing factors in car crashes,
according to Dr Jeremy Woolley, Research Fellow at the Transport Systems
Centre at the University of South Australia.
Dr
Woolley says that while speed and alcohol spring to mind, other factors
still play a large role in car crashes.
“The difficulty is that most crashes involve many factors and not just one
in isolation. For example, a car may run off a country road at night, it
may be due to fatigue or alcohol alone or
fatigue and alcohol and excessive speed in combination.
“Fatigue exists in many forms. A fatigue crash may occur on a long drive
interstate or on a daily trip to the city to collect the children from
kindergarten.
“Inattention is a generic term used to describe many things.
“Inattention could be making a mistake due to talking on a mobile phone
while driving or noticing a pedestrian on the footpath. Or it could be
caused by driving after just having had an argument with a loved one.
“Researchers are still debating how to measure these factors and with a
lack of data it is difficult to run campaigns and difficult to enforce.
“Can you imagine a policeman pulling you over and asking for proof of how
much you’ve slept in the last 72 hours?” Dr Woolley said.
The community pays an enormous price for road crashes. Fatalities are an
obvious negative outcome, but they don’t tell the whole story. Serious
injury and hospitalisation cost the community many millions of dollars
annually.
In
addition, property damage crashes also place a burden on community
resources.
Dr
Woolley says that it is often this side of the picture that is neglected
when reporting only fatalities.
A
solution would be to compare fatalities on a five year moving average
which would stabilise the data and be less misleading to the public.
“If we were to report overall numbers of crashes (including property
damage crashes) we would see the bigger picture and be able to better
relate to it,” Dr Woolley said.
“In terms of the amount of driving we do (called exposure), the chances of
being involved in a life threatening crash are generally quite low.
“We know this intuitively because we drive all the time, sometimes exceed
the speed limit or make driving mistakes and are still here to tell the
story.
“This is what makes it difficult for governments to make people believe
that their behaviour can be risky.
While the government spends millions of dollars on campaigns, a lot of the
responsibility still comes down to the individual.
There are things we can do to minimise our chances of being involved in
crashes. Dr Woolley offers the following tips. Although you’ve heard them
before, they are still a timely reminder:
·
don’t drink and
drive
·
maintain sensible
travelling speeds
·
forget speaking on
the mobile when driving
·
do not drive if you
are emotional or have a heavy mental load (remember, this happens a lot
over Christmas)
·
plan your trips
sensibly and organise yourself to avoid having to "rush" everywhere
·
drive to allow for
your own mistakes (don’t tailgate)
·
drive to allow for
the mistakes of others (focus on avoiding the crash, not who is right or
wrong)
Media contacts:
Dr
Jeremy Woolley 8302 1449 Karen Williams 8302
0096
