Rudd Government must lead globally on reducing road toll
6th November, 2009
The Federal Opposition has welcomed the announcement today of a National Road Safety Council in an effort to reduce Australia’s road toll.However, Shadow Transport Minister Warren Truss has questioned why the Rudd Government has not taken an international leadership role in the pursuit of better road safety at an upcoming global summit.
Moscow hosts the First United Nations Global Conference on Road Safety later this month, and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has been invited. It is understood that Australia will have no ministerial representation whatsoever.
“This summit will discuss a proposal unanimously endorsed by the United States House of Representatives for a global Decade of Action on Road Safety from next year,” Mr Truss said.
“The US resolution aims to halve the almost two million road deaths expected on the world’s roads between 2010 and 2020, primarily through safer road design.
“Such a target would be a worthy follow-up to the initiative instigated in Australia by the Coalition for the present decade. We aimed to reduce fatalities on our roads by 40 percent by the end of next year.
“The Rudd Government is always talking about Australia taking a leadership role in international agreements. Mr Rudd and an army of his offsiders are expected to be in Copenhagen next month to discuss a global response to climate change.
“Maybe the issue of road safety just isn’t sexy enough for Mr Rudd? This global summit deserves the attention of the Transport Minister, at the very least,” Mr Truss said.
In all, 1463 people died on Australian roads last year, which was the lowest toll for almost 60 years. However, the toll for the first eight months of this year was 6 percent higher than in 2008.
The Nationals recently released policy platform plans for Government to work with automobile associations and other organisations such as Rotary to implement new driver training programs for young drivers. We will require all new cars sold in Australia in volume to carry an ANCAP star safety rating and funding will be provided for the installation of seat belts in buses. The Nationals plan to fund the construction of 500 new roadside stops for our truck drivers, and ensure that the Australian Road Assessment Program, which measures the safety level of highways, is extended to the major secondary freight routes.
