Drivers are being blinded by in-vehicle and other distractions
Getting drivers across Australia to concentrate on the road instead of in-vehicle and other distractions is the focus of the 2016 National Yellow Ribbon Road Safety Week. Held in May to coincide with the United Nations’ Global Road Safety Week, the awareness campaign is aimed at all drivers on the road but is taken particularly seriously by the transport industry.
Fatal road accidents are a statistic that refuses to go away on Australian roads. Last year, 1209 people were killed in road accidents in Australia, with 30,000 people seriously injured. These are the figures quoted by Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) – a not-for-profit organisation that was formed by Peter Frazer following a tragic crash on the Hume Highway in 2012 that killed his daughter Sarah Frazer along with tow-truck driver, Geoffrey Clark.
SARAH’s mission is to promote road safety initiatives and support those affected by road tragedy, working with state and territory governments to:
- establish campaigns to foster improved road safety awareness and responsibility by drivers;
- help school students and the community understand the importance of road safety through road safety presentations, and community group lectures;
- lobby Parliamentary representatives to ensure that road policy focuses on harm elimination;
- conduct road safety research and publishes pamphlets and papers; and
- support those victims, families and friends affected by road tragedy.
Key to the SARAH organisation’s role is their commitment to the global Vision Zero philosophy of road safety, which aims to see no-one killed or seriously injured on roads. Vision Zero is a philosophy that provides a vision of a safe road transport system which can be used to guide the selection of strategies and then the setting of goals and targets.
Zero is not a target to be achieved by a certain date. It is a change from an emphasis on current problems and possible ways of reducing these to being guided by what the optimum state of the road transport system should be. It’s a best-practice philosophy that has already been adopted by the Western Australian Government and SARAH hopes the other Australian states and territories will follow.
An issue of global importance
Road safety isn’t only an issue in Australia. Last year, the United Nations General Assembly set a target to halve road traffic fatalities and injuries within five years, a goal that the UN admits is ambitious but necessary if the rate of road safety deaths is to decease.
Official United Nations’ figures state that road traffic fatalities are the number one killer around the world of 15-29 year olds, with accidents being responsible for killing 1.24 million people annually.
Best-practice safety culture at Drake Trailers
Drake Trailers General Manager, Khali Lake said that while safety is a key pillar of Drake Trailer’s Brisbane-based business, special dates on the calendar such as this week’s National Road Safety Week are a great reminder to everyone that road safety is something that should never be taken for granted.
“All vehicles and machines are continuing to get more advanced, with improved, in-built safety features, but the ultimate responsibility for road safety rests with the driver,”
Drake Trailers has been a key figure in the Australian transport industry for over 50 years. Our workforce is committed to building the best trailers in the business. Our range of low loader, widening and custom-built trailers are renowned for their quality, innovation and focus on operator safety. If you need a trailer that meets international best-practice standards, contact us today.
