Road Safety Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Final Report follows the Committee’s Interim Report which was presented in December 2009. The two Reports should be read and considered in conjunction with each other, as there is an overlapping of several important issues.
The evidence received establishes that the main factors contributing to crashes are inexperience, inattention, alcohol and excessive speed. There has been no abatement in the frequency of these factors contributing to crashes in Tasmania in the last ten years. The number of fatalities in 2009 was tragically high, although there has been an overall reduction in the number of serious casualties in Tasmania since 2000.
Notwithstanding this, since 2005 Tasmania has been above the national average in terms of road crash deaths per 100,000 population, per 10,000 registered vehicles and per 100 million vehicle-kilometres travelled. One of the strongest and most consistent themes throughout the evidence and submissions received by the Committee was the compelling need for compulsory driver education to be undertaken by all learner drivers.
There is an abundance of evidence that this would be beneficial. The Committee is at a loss to understand the intransigent attitude of the Department of Energy, Infrastructure and Resources in rejecting the adoption of this measure. Evidence was received that the current licence testing process does not adequately identify a candidate’s driving competency and skill and that most learner drivers are merely taught how to pass the test.