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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 8 Hansard (29 October) . . Page.. 2457 ..

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Smyth is answering the question.

MR SMYTH: It is curious, as Mr Moore points out, that similar headlines ran in every capital city that same day that they also had the worst drivers in the country. The AAMI survey - and it confirms some information that we also gather through the Department of Urban Services, through road user services - does indicate that we tend to drive too fast and to push the rules to their limits. You are quite right in regard to things like tailgating and running red lights.

Mr Humphries' department and mine have set up a committee that will look at the issue of enforcement. Ideally, one would hope that, as you have already so ably pointed out, an education system would encourage people to drive properly, and indeed the new attitudes program that we are implementing is aimed at education. In terms of encouragement and reminding people of their obligations, we are currently running a series of ads on the television. There is a theme every fortnight. That will look at things like speeding, running red lights, not wearing a seatbelt, drink-driving, et cetera.

But you then get to the point where you have to question whether or not enforcement is an issue that we have to look at. Indeed, the AAMI survey would suggest that enforcement is something that is lacking, particularly in terms of running red lights. With that in mind we are investigating new technologies, particularly speed cameras and red-light cameras, to ensure that our road system is the safest road system that it can be.

MR KAINE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Minister, I know that every time something like this comes up we are told there is a shortage of police and resources, but it seems to me, from my own observations, that if we had a police presence on some of our major arterial roads in peak hours when people are travelling to and from work they would have a wonderful time, and they would pick up a lot of revenue as well. Just driving to work and driving home at night I see all kinds of reckless behaviour, but there is never a police presence in sight. It might be more valuable if police resources were reprogrammed in some way so that, instead of being on the sides of streets at 11 o'clock at night picking up people for drink-driving, they were put on the sides of roads at 8.30 in the morning to pick up people for reckless driving.

MR HUMPHRIES: As Minister for Police, I might take that question. There is certainly an issue about the best deployment of traffic police. There has been a continuous reassessment, almost on a daily basis, about the best way of being able to deploy traffic police. I have been out with traffic police on a number of occasions to see the work that they do and to try to get a feel for the effectiveness of the work that they do.

I think it is true to say, Mr Speaker, that they take the view that they have two roles. They have a role in deterring general bad behaviour on the roads and they have a role in being able to be there when the most serious and dangerous incidents take place. There are certain places where the police will often, for example, wait in a marked or an unmarked car to pick up people drinking and driving. That presence, I am told, is often very effective in terms of being able to pick up a high rate of people coming out of particular drinking establishments who are drinking and driving.

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