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16489
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 17:33
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https://oananews.org//node/16489
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Victorian report slams vehicle safety
(AAP) Motor vehicles in Victoria are among the most unsafe in the developed world, a parliamentary report has revealed.
The Road Safety Committee slams the state and federal governments for lagging behindthe rest of the world in vehicle safety standards.
It found the availability of safety technologies is much less in Australia thanoverseas.
"Vehicle safety technologies are regularly identified in state and federal road safety strategies as a countermeasure to the number of crashes and injuries," thereport said.
It noted that historically, Victoria had led the way in road safety measures, when in 1970 it mandated the wearing of seatbelts, two years ahead of the rest of thecountry.
But since then, the committee found, "the Victorian and federal governments have not taken sufficient steps to ensure that vehicle safety in Australia keeps pace with international developments." It described as "unethical" the practice of bundling safety options up with non-safety features, such as leather trim, because it can provide a disincentive tocustomers due to the extra cost.
Dr Stuart Newstead, Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Accident Research Centre,agreed.
"That's a pretty stupid thing to do," Dr Newstead told AAP.
"Ideally, they need to be standard. If not, you need to be able to buy them at a minimum cost to encourage people to have them in the car."He said Australia was well behind countries such as Sweden and Germany.
A big problem, he believed, was consumers being unaware of the need for safetyfeatures and unwilling to pay more for them.
Things like airbags are not always seen as essential.
"They aren't like a stereo or leather seats, that you use every day. People quiteoften have trouble perceiving the value of these things.
"Really an education program needs to be had, so that people realise that these could be the most valuable things they ever buy, in that they save their lives." A 2004 study by the research centre discovered that if people were in the safestvehicle in each class, road trauma and injury could be reduced by up to 25 per cent.
"That's the sort of gain we could get if we adopted absolute best practice," DrNewstead said.
The Victorian government plans to have electronic stability control systemsmandatory by 2011.
Among 37 recommendations contained in the report, the committee suggestedpre-emptive brake assist should be a prerequisite of registration by 2015.
It also raised concerns about the lack of focus on vehicle safety in heavy vehiclesand motorcycles.
The Road Safety Committee slams the state and federal governments for lagging behindthe rest of the world in vehicle safety standards.
It found the availability of safety technologies is much less in Australia thanoverseas.
"Vehicle safety technologies are regularly identified in state and federal road safety strategies as a countermeasure to the number of crashes and injuries," thereport said.
It noted that historically, Victoria had led the way in road safety measures, when in 1970 it mandated the wearing of seatbelts, two years ahead of the rest of thecountry.
But since then, the committee found, "the Victorian and federal governments have not taken sufficient steps to ensure that vehicle safety in Australia keeps pace with international developments." It described as "unethical" the practice of bundling safety options up with non-safety features, such as leather trim, because it can provide a disincentive tocustomers due to the extra cost.
Dr Stuart Newstead, Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Accident Research Centre,agreed.
"That's a pretty stupid thing to do," Dr Newstead told AAP.
"Ideally, they need to be standard. If not, you need to be able to buy them at a minimum cost to encourage people to have them in the car."He said Australia was well behind countries such as Sweden and Germany.
A big problem, he believed, was consumers being unaware of the need for safetyfeatures and unwilling to pay more for them.
Things like airbags are not always seen as essential.
"They aren't like a stereo or leather seats, that you use every day. People quiteoften have trouble perceiving the value of these things.
"Really an education program needs to be had, so that people realise that these could be the most valuable things they ever buy, in that they save their lives." A 2004 study by the research centre discovered that if people were in the safestvehicle in each class, road trauma and injury could be reduced by up to 25 per cent.
"That's the sort of gain we could get if we adopted absolute best practice," DrNewstead said.
The Victorian government plans to have electronic stability control systemsmandatory by 2011.
Among 37 recommendations contained in the report, the committee suggestedpre-emptive brake assist should be a prerequisite of registration by 2015.
It also raised concerns about the lack of focus on vehicle safety in heavy vehiclesand motorcycles.
