The safe road home

Every month, the Australian Road Deaths Monthly Bulletin publishes the number of people that died on the nation's roads.

The number for March 2020, 100 people. This is how many people died on the road in March. In the world, the number of people dying each year from car crashes, more than one million.

So, it begs the question, why are Australian governments not doing more to keep people safe.

We know that they are doing things. There are RBT's, seatbelt laws, speed cameras, tv campaigns and more.

We also know that there has been a reduction in the number of crashes compared to decades ago. In fact, the March 2020 number of 100 lives lost is lower than the March 2019 number.

Yes, there has been a reduction in the deaths. Yet, lives are still being lost, and things that could be done are not being done.

There are plenty of things that the government could do.

Getting older cars of the road that are overrepresented in crash statistics.

Japan, as part of their economic stimulus plan, way back in 2009, was encouraging people to buy newer cars. Offering them money to scrap their older cars and buy newer ones.

A program that Australia could adopt on a big scale. Doing this not as an economic stimulus but to save lives.

Australian design rules set the minimum standard for car designs. The designs could be of a higher standard.

The rules could oblige car companies to release only 5 star-safety rated cars on the road.