Driver error cause of most road deaths

[ltd_on20s]

Driver error cause of most road deaths

IMPROVEMENTS in road and vehicle technology are helping drive down the state's road toll, but human error remains the most common cause of fatalities.

Three road deaths in as many days last week were the result of speed and drivers losing control.

The senseless loss of life took SA's annual road toll to 96 compared to 119 at the same time last year, threatening the Countdown100 target of keeping the state's road toll below 100 this year.

With 18 days remaining in 2008 and the looming holiday period - with its increase in traffic - police will double efforts to keep the road toll down.

But there was only so much police and technology could do, Traffic Support Branch Inspector Stuart McLean said. "Thirty-eight per cent of drivers and passengers who have died this year were not wearing seatbelts," he said. "As long as people do that, we will continue to have deaths and trauma on our roads."

The last time SA's road toll came close to 100 was in 1947 when 101 died - but then there were fewer vehicles on the roads.

Despite huge improvements in automobile safety - with crumple zones, air bags and advanced braking systems and better road surfaces, lights, street signs and tougher policing - hundreds of smashes happen each year.

However, statistics show, a drop in the road toll occurs every time a major new regulation is implemented.

But, bad driving habits have a habit of returning.

In 1970, 349 people died on the roads, but the next year when wearing seatbelts became compulsory, the toll dropped to 292.

However, just three years later, in 1974, the road toll spiked to 382, the highest since recording began in 1921.

The toll did not get lower than 291 for the next five years, but it dropped by 60 to 222 in 1981 when police introduced random breath testing.

By 1986, the toll had crept to 288, which prompted police to double random breath testing efforts, again with a striking impact.

The toll dropped to 256, then to 223 in 1988 when red-light speed cameras were introduced, suggesting drivers were taking more care to avoid fines.

The toll also fell in 1991 (to 184) when the legal blood/alcohol limit was reduced from .08 per cent to .05 per cent and it fell to 117 - the lowest in 60 years - two years ago when drug-driving testing was introduced.

In 2003, when the speed limit in built-up areas was reduced to 50km/h, personal injury claims dropped 18 per cent in a year, accordingly to Motor Accident Commission figures.

The number of casualty crashes fell 20 per cent and the number of deaths on roads with the 50km/h limit dropped from 14 to eight in the same period.

Insp McLean said that clearly law enforcement had an impact on driver behaviour, even if it was sometimes misunderstood. "When speed cameras came in (1960) it was not to catch people out but to bring about long-term change in driver behaviour and bring down the road toll," he said. "That's why we release the location of speed cameras in the media. Even with that, we still have people driving dangerously."

Insp McLean said a driver was allegedly clocked at 132km/h in a 50km/h zone at Kent Town at 5pm on November 1.

"Technology and enforcement has clearly reduced road fatalities, but while we have idiotic behaviour like that, we will see trauma and deaths," he said.

No amount of technology can protect road users from irresponsible drivers. Everybody has a stake in road safety, Insp McLean said.

Hoon drivers, speeding and drug and alcohol use while driving should be reported to police.

"A parent, a friend, a relative or a stranger can make a positive impact," he said.

"If you're a passenger in a vehicle and the driver is speeding or driving recklessly, tell them to stop it and slow down or get out the car at the first chance."