Page 777 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 29 March 2006
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that that should end—but I am starting to wonder, and the statistics tend to underline this, whether these are becoming less effective because they focus on the symptoms of poor driving and not the causes.
I believe that the time has come for far-reaching changes in driver training and the issuing of licences, with most emphasis being placed on the importance of attitude to driving. A drivers licence must be seen as a privilege—a reward for pride in driving and the competence that reflects that pride. At the same time, I believe that people who demonstrate a careless and irresponsible attitude to driving should be required to consider their attitude and retrain until an instructor or examiner is satisfied that they are safe to drive on our public roads. Roads are a public resource and everyone who uses them is responsible for the wellbeing of other users as well as themselves.
I will just reflect on the issue of speed. In all of the discussions I have heard in this area—and I have had an involvement in my previous life with road safety over probably more than a decade—I have rarely ever heard any reference to the speed of vehicles. There seems to be no courage at governmental level to tackle the matter of the construction of motor vehicles that can go vastly in excess of the speed limits prevailing in virtually every part of Australia.
I was prompted about this when I rented a car about a year ago, a Ford Territory, of which the majority of members of this Assembly are owners; I am not one. I am looking at the driving guide and it states that it is recommended not to exceed 115 kilometres an hour in third gear, then that you not exceed 160 kilometres per hour in fourth gear—and then five and six; I do not know where you are meant to go there. Then it states: “Always observe the local speed limit and drive safely. Adjust your driving to suit the road and weather conditions.”
I just find it staggering that here is one of Australia’s largest motor vehicle manufacturers putting out a guide in every vehicle in Australia telling people that this vehicle should be driven or could be driven at speeds vastly in excess of the Australian speed limits—with the sole exception of the Northern Territory, with a minuscule number of people. It raises the question: why are they having to manufacture vehicles that can drive at these speeds? You look on car dashboards and they have got designated maximum speeds of up to 200 kilometres an hour; sometimes it is higher on the European cars. My suggestion to governments—and Ms MacDonald might want to take this on board with her next motion on this topic—is that they ought to start putting pressure on those who make these cars. The national—
Mr Hargreaves: It’s a federal responsibility—your mates.
MR MULCAHY: Yes, I agree that it is a federal matter, but these matters have to be resolved through federal and state ministerial conferences. You are quite happy for Canberra to show the way and lead the charge on a host of other initiatives. Well, let the ACT government show the way in relation to the design of vehicles and start putting some responsibility onto the manufacturers. We have not seen a significant reduction in road deaths since the last major achievement, RBT, came in in various states. I suggest that the next step ought to be, if we are serious about road safety, to put pressure on the manufacturers to produce vehicles in which people are less able to cause damage and destruction.
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