Road safety programmes: the hard and the soft

It is encouraging that road accident statistics have seen a downward trend in recent years. Despite this trend, over 2000 people are killed and more than 20,000 seriously injured each year in Australia as a result of road accidents. This represents an overall cost of more than $6 billion to the Australian community (1988 values). The primary components of the road transport system are the road user, the vehicle and the road. Research shows that road user error is a prime factor in 95% of serious crashes, the road environment in up to 28% and the vehicle in 8%. To address the road safety problem, safety programmes targeting the various components have been developed, and in most cases, implemented. The vehicle factor in accidents is the smallest and is probably the easiest to address. The contribution to road accidents due to this factor is kept to a minimum by ensuring that adequate standards are met in new vehicles, and that existing vehicles are maintained in a satisfactory condition. The road user factor is probably the most complex of the three, and it is being addressed through driver education and enforcement. There appears to be no shortage of knowledge on improving the road and its environment to provide a safer road network. The limiting factor will always be the availability of sufficient funds to carry out the works on a large scale. The scope of this paper is to discuss some of the hard-core road safety engineering programmes such as the Traffic Accident Remedial Programme (TARP), Mass Action Programmes (MAPs) and Road Safety Audit, and a soft-core programme of the implementation of red light cameras in Queensland.