Another tragedy for Monk family
2018 is already the second deadliest year on our roads since 2010. Marty Sharpe and Damian George look at speed cameras and what could be done to lower our terrible toll, and whether we can.
A woman killed in a Nelson crash was the niece of Pike River families spokesman Bernie Monk, another tragedy for the West Coast family. Monk confirmed that his niece, Kelsie Linda Monk, died in Thursday’s crash in Stoke. Bernie Monk lost his son Michael in the Pike River mine disaster in November 2010. ‘‘It’s a very emotional time,’’ he told The Press. ‘‘Our families are close.’’ He declined to comment further and asked others to respect the family’s privacy. Bernie Monk is the spokesman for some of the families who lost loved ones when the Pike River mine exploded. The bodies of the 29 men remain in the West Coast mine. Kelsie Monk, 25, was killed and three others were seriously injured when the driver of the vehicle they were in lost control and crashed about 12.30am on Thursday. They were travelling from Nelson to Richmond when the crash happened. Yesterday, a Nelson Hospital spokeswoman said one person was in a critical but stable condition. Another was in critical condition in Wellington Hospital’s intensive care unit. The third injured person was flown to Christchurch Hospital. Nelson Bays Area commander Inspector Paul Borrell said any death on New Zealand roads was one too many. The crash was a tragedy for the friends and family of the woman killed and those injured, as well as the wider community, he said. ‘‘Police are committed to reducing death and injury on our roads but we cannot do it alone.’’
We think we’re great drivers, but even the best make mistakes.
Judging by readers’ comments on road safety stories, you’d think there were no bad drivers in New Zealand.
Or it’s simply that everyone else is a bad driver.
‘‘Too many pathetic drivers,’’ wrote one commenter, presumably not including themselves in their analysis, while another blamed "impatience’’ and ‘‘egos’’.
The worst drivers around were those ‘‘incapable of intelligent anticipation’’, said another.
For some, it would seem, the problem is other people.
But a lot can wrong on the road – for several reasons – and when it does, the results can be devastating.
That’s where the Vision Zero system comes in, because even the best drivers make mistakes.
Created in Sweden in 1997, the system works on the principle that ‘‘it can never be ethically acceptable that people are killed or seriously injured when moving within the road transport system’’.
It does not mean zero deaths. Rather, it means that deaths or serious injuries should never be regarded as an acceptable product of mobility.
Because even if you think you’re a great driver, you will make mistakes.
If the safety system is working well, it could save your life.
For example, if you are travelling at a maximum speed of 80kmh, the carnage will be greatly reduced.
If you – or someone coming towards you – threatens to cross the centre line, a wire median barrier will stop a head-on collision.
If you are driving a late-model car, you will be better protected.
If you have gone through the proper training – and done a defensive driving test – you might react better to the danger.
Experts argue that making the system safer is the key rather than trying to influence or improve driver behaviour – although that of course helps.
Dr David Logan, a senior research fellow at Australia’s Monash University accident research centre, said we can only ever expect a certain level of safe driving.
‘‘There is always going to be a cohort of people that you have little or no effect on.
‘‘But you can probably influence 80-90 per cent. So if you can have a good influence on them, you just have to deal with the 10-20 per cent in other ways.’’
Changing driver behaviour was almost a ‘‘supporting initiative’’, Logan said.
‘‘You try and build a road system that prevents people being killed or seriously injured, almost regardless of the behaviour they display.
‘‘If you can build a system like that, it’s genuinely a safe system, but we can’t get all the way there so that’s why we need to look at other things.’’
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of car review website Dog and Lemon, said multiple studies had shown that asking people to drive safely was ‘‘an expensive waste of time’’.
‘‘The American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, one of the most respected road safety establishments in the world, collated the results of dozens of other studies over the last 30 years.
‘‘Their conclusion: ‘Research indicates that education has no effect, or only a very limited effect, on habits like staying within speed limits, heeding stop signs, and using safety belts’.’’
He said trying to lower the road toll by changing driving habits was the approach of ‘‘road safety dinosaurs’’. ‘‘Everybody thinks they’re a good driver – even idiots who have just killed someone.’’ Champion racing driver Greg Murphy said car manufacturers were developing a lot of technological safeguards for vehicles – including self-driving cars and lane-departure warnings. However, he was concerned that too much responsibility for keeping safe was being taken away from drivers, and said there was no substitute for proper training.
He runs a driver training school, and said there was an incomprehensible lack of driver training, and retraining, in this country.
Driver tests were far too easy, and it was unfathomable that drivers did not get retested until there were 75 – after potentially gaining a licence in their teens.
‘‘Every single time when I get in my car, I see drivers doing things which could potentially do serious damage on the open road.
‘‘We’ve ignored drivers in this country. We take it for granted.
‘‘We want to reduce the chances of being killed or seriously injured but we’re not going to fix the root of the problem, which is drivers.’’