Stop blaming the drivers

I NOTE Minister Ferguson is disappointed by the increase in road fatalities last year and mentions that “human error” is a major cause of road fatalities (“Road deaths on the rise,” Mercury, January 2).

However the Transport Australia Society states, “The Safe System [ approach] adopts the principle of not blaming drivers for mistakes because drivers are human and will never be completely devoid of error. However, some road safety campaigns, government statements and media reporting continue to do so in order to change behaviour, such as describing the greatest proportion of crashes caused by driver error, in simplistic isolation”.

It recommends “Crash analysis ( collision investigation and ‘ in- depth crash investigation’) should focus on serious crashes and how the system design allowed inherently unsafe speeds to occur ( independent of all road user fallibility factors).”

Likewise, Austroads Guide to Road Design states: “Adopting a Safe System approach to road safety recognises that humans, as road users are fallible and will continue to make mistakes, and that the road design and operation of the road system should not penalise people with death or serious injury when they do make mistakes.”

I appeal to our state and local governments to listen to such leaders in road safety and adopt a new approach that looks at all contributing factors and stops blaming road users. Given the Tasmania Towards Zero strategy and

action plan is not achieving its goal, perhaps it needs to be revised to reflect these principles.