User:Clare./sandbox

Road safety in Australia

The annual economic cost of road crashes in Australia is estimated at $27 billion per annum. In 2011, 1277 people died on Australian roads. Road deaths per 100,000 population in 2011 were significantly higher in the Northern Territory than in other Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory. In 2011, the Australian Capital Territory recorded the lowest figure for road deaths per 100,000 population. Between 1980 and 2010 Australia's annual road fatality rate dropped from 22.3 to 6.1 deaths per 100,000 people.

Fitting and wearing of seat belts
Mandatory seat belt wearing applied throughout Australia by 1 January 1972.

Current laws stipulate that children up to seven in Australia must travel with a forward-facing child safety seat with in-built harness or approved booster seat. Premature graduation of children to adult seat belts, misuuse of seat belts and use of lap-only seat belts increase the risk of injury or death in a car crash.

Random breath testing
In 1976 Victoria was the first state in Australia to introduce random breath testing. Random breath testing was introduced in New South Wales in 1982. In 2011, police caught 22,000 people in NSW drink driving. The Fraser Cabinet agreed in principle to support the introduction of random breath testing nationally in February 1982.

Speed cameras
Victoria introduced speed cameras on a trial basis in 1985, Western Australia introduced cameras in 1988 and New South Wales introduced mobile speed cameras in 1991.

Australasian New Car Assessment Program
The Australian Government became a full member of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) in 2010.

Electronic Stability Control
Electronic Stability Control has been mandatory for all new cars sold in Australia since 2011. According to then Transport Minister Anthony Albanese, Electronic Stability Control technology has the potential to reduce a motorist's chances of being involved in a fatal accident by 25 per cent.

The Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989
The Commonwealth Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 was introduced in May 1989, to give effect to the Australian Government's commitment to road safety and environmental quality on a nationally consistent basis. The Act's objectives were to achieve uniform vehicle standards to apply to new vehicles when they begin to be used in transport in Australia; and to regulate the first supply to the market of used import vehicles.

Commonwealth established control over vehicle imports.

Speed limits
Speed contributes to around 40 per cent of road fatalities each year in New South Wales.

Open speed limits in the Northern Territory
Open speed limits were removed by the Northern Territory Government in 2007 in return for increased Commonwealth funding. Since 2007, main highways have been limited to 130 km/h.

In October 2013, the NT Government announced that it will reintroduce open speed limits on a stretch of the Stuart Highway as part of a 12-month trial program beginning 1 February 2014.

Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal
Australia's first Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal began operation on 1 July 2012, with the power to set pay and conditions for truck drivers, so as to reduce the economic pressure on truck drivers to work unsafely to meet unfair and unrealistic deadlines. The Tribunal's functions include:
 * making road safety remuneration orders
 * approving road transport collective agreements
 * dealing with disputes; and
 * researching pay, conditions and other matters that may affect safety in the road transport industry.