I once had a bit of an inappropriate laugh when I read in the online Fiji Live electric newspaper that someone in Fiji was killed after two cars bumped together.
Aside from the important King Street thoroughfare, motor cars have been strongly restricted within the bounds of Melbourne's Central Business District boundaries. It is fair to say it is a nightmare to drive within the city boundaries and that is how it should be. The area is abundantly served by trains, trams and buses. Most Melbournians are spoilt for choice to get to town by public transport, even more so when the new underground train line soon opens. Some of course will have to catch a bus or drive to their nearest railway station.
Within the city the speed limit is 40 km/h, 25 mph and there are cameras to check your speed, quite a few of them. The fines are high, as is the demerit points against your driving licence.
I expect this figure may apply to 2023. 'Research by Monash University found the crash rate was down 46% and bike traffic up by 22% in the CBD'. This is primarily the result of the speed limit being reduced and proper protected bike lanes.
Also the speed limit in the small streets with lots of pedestrians has been reduced to 20 km/h, 12 mph.
So crashes within the CBD are down by nearly half. The statistics don't lie.
I think mostly related to a lot more traffic after the lifting of Covid travel restrictions, in 2023 the Australian road toll rose by 7.3%. Comparing my experience of driving and observations in England, Australian drivers are quite bad. By my calculations, and I am notorious for getting simple arithmetic wrong, our road deaths per million figure is 48. That isn't great by world standards.
But not as bad as some first world countries. Australia would be coloured the light green colour. For someone who knows more about American demographics than I do, what is it about the dark and red states with very high death rates? Poor states? #45 voters? Gun toting?
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Cars in our city centre are discouraged by low speed limits and exorbitantly priced and limited parking. Good. The electric scooters are a menace though. And yes, people have died and riders and pedestrians seriously injured.
ReplyDeleteEC, one poor woman here was hit by two electric hire scooters within a second or two. Laws have allowed them, on trial still here, but if they don't stop riding on public footpaths, often without helmets, at times two on one scooter, they need to be banned, as they have been elsewhere, like Paris.
DeleteAh, now, please don't introduce politics into this debate. I appreciate honest discussion but it's not appropriate.
ReplyDelete~shakes finger while grinning~
Anyway, I believe the lowest United States death rates are due to less dense populations. ~nods~ It would be more interesting broken down by US counties, though a tedious task.
My state of Ohio has 88 (!) counties. Obviously, those such as my birthplace of Crawford County are more sparsely populated. This center for German immigration's main attraction is a summer bratwurst/beer garden festival. :P
Be well!
By the way, I'm sorry for being absent; lawn and garden chores have been taking up a lot of time. lol And please know that I think of you daily wishing for your heart to heal. Hugs, Andrew.
I get what you are saying about politics Darla and I will just ignore it. Aren't your highly populated areas the east and west coast? Fatal crashes on the west coast and New York State seem much lower. No need to apologise, although its nice. We all blog as we do, without onerous rules.
Deletelol
DeleteAnd I appreciate your rebuttal. Respectfully, we have so many variables here one must consider. Heavily populated cites within huge states affect the statistics, as do local laws regarding speed. When I drove north from the San Francisco airport, stop and go traffic prevented any dangerous collisions.
While here in Ohio, just the other day I could have, if distracted, rammed into a car because there were so many other vehicles stopped at a red light out of sight over a rise in the road. The listed speed was 55mph or about 85kph.
Yikes!
In retrospect I wish I'd stopped at the pinnacle upon seeing the backup. My husband and I winced as a vehicle behind us appeared. We're blessed to not have been in an accident.
It's an interesting subject to contemplate, so thanks for bringing this up. I wish you well. Blog on!
We have to realise that resources and space are limited, and that we can't do just as we want when everyone wants to do it.
ReplyDeleteTasker, are you saying when I am driving, I am part of the problem rather than just someone is suffering from the problem?
DeleteInteresting map. My state, NJ, has the highest number of cars per road mile in the US, yet is among a lower tier in the death rate. Not that you'd guess it from observing people cutting in, crossing lanes for fun, etc.
ReplyDeleteBoud, that is probably down to lower speeds in highly populated areas. It doesn't sound like it comes from police enforcement of rules.
DeleteOut here we don't havce traffic jams but drivers are lunatics, red is a challenge, sauntering on to the highway from ramps a hobby. Can't find traffic stats but another traffic stat here is death by moose who stroll onto highways everywhere and jump at cars. Roadkill of another kind. I hate driving any distance at night here.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
WWW, I get 'sauntering on to the highway from ramps a hobby'. It is the same here. Our animal road hazards are primarily kangaroos but also deer, that should be eradicated as a pest species, (no native hard hooved animals should be in the wild here), and wombats. Moose are big and solid and I'm sure they are quite a hazard but they don't bound at speed like kangaroos.
Delete"Poor states? #45 voters? Gun toting? "
ReplyDeleteYes.
Bob, I suppose I had figured that out.
DeleteSeriously? ~sigh~ I have a weapons carry permit, voted for Donald Trump, am not poor, and drive defensively like many of my fellow Ohioans.
DeletePlease tell me you will still follow my humble blog, Andrew. ;) I just want us all to get along.
Darla, I do understand why people voted for #45 the first time, but surely not this election. You are a nice and interesting person. No one outside of the US understands your gun culture. Our political differences are probably not so great, in spite of you voting wrongly once, haha.
DeleteParking in the City is scarce, remote from your office and very very expensive. Public transport drops you off close to the office, and largely avoids traffic accidents.
ReplyDeleteHels, unless the workplace is paying for their parking, I would suggest most driving around the city have a reason to be there, aside from those who think it is below their dignity to use public transport. Let them suffer.
DeleteWell, you're right, the states that are dark and red do vote conservative, although I'm not sure what that has to do with driving. My own state of Ohio is the middle color of yellow, further proof that we're a "swing" state.
ReplyDeleteKirk, lots of long highways in less populated states? Just keep on swinging, my friend.
DeleteTo me, it is more about lack of law enforcement rather than the actual speed limit.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, I think enforcement has been handed over to cameras. There is nothing like the sight of a police car to moderate your driving.
DeleteA recent trip to suburban Melbourne reminded me why I hate driving in the city. Traffic lights seemed an indication rather than the law, school zone traffic signals seemed to be there for their pretty colours and lane markings were for weaving over. I guess if you have an accident at 20mph it really would be more of a bump.
ReplyDeleteMerlot, none of us are perfect drivers, least of all me, but every time I drive my personality changes from being a nice and polite person to road rage at the incompetence of fellow drivers. It is lucky we have strong gun laws.
DeleteI don't think that demographics have as much to do with it as speed limits (google 'what us states have the highest speed limits, and you will see quite a correlation there). The other thing to mention is those states in the center of the US are 'plains states'. They are flat. The roads are straight and flat. I read that driving roads like that when you are tired causes something called 'road fatigue', where the driver gets lulled into a less attentive state of mind and becomes careless. Back in 1974, when the federal law dictated a national speed limit of 55 to conserve gas, traffic deaths dropped, average between a 2000-4000 decrease per each year the lower speed limit was in place.
ReplyDeleteDebby, I respect your comment and your local knowledge. People falling asleep on country roads here is a thing, but I don't hear of people doing so on our transcontinental highway, with the longest stretch of straight road in the world, and it is flat. The stat you quote is interesting and I think proves the point, speed kills. 100 km/h is roughly 60 mph. So 55 would be about 95 km/h. That is quite low. Obtaining a driving license in Germany is very hard, and they drive safely at very high speeds on autobahns. I do see your point though. The states with the higher death toll do have long flat roads, but does that account for say Florida?
Deletethecontemplativecat here. California and accidents go together. No one believes that those speed limits are for them, too. thinking about you. Praying for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you CC. Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.
DeleteI'm somewhat not surprised by this map. Here in Idaho one can drive and talk on there mobile device. I don't I turn mine complete off.
ReplyDeleteDora, that is just so wrong. The consequences here are high if caught using a phone while driving, even touching one. I don't turn mine off but just ignore it. It can wait. They are a terrible distraction.
DeleteWithin Australia the principal variation is between "metropolitan" areas and "regional" areas. Out in the regions, distances are bigger and people drive faster to cover them. (Fatigue is often a factor as per Debby's comment re the US.)
ReplyDeleteRegional Fatality rates per capita are about 4-5 times higher than in capital cities, and as between different states the regional rates are bigger for the bigger and more remotely settled states. The disparity would I guess be less if calculated per vehicle kilometres (though maybe not by vehicle time on roads).
Quite good 2023 presentation of figures at https://www.aaa.asn.au/newsroom/new-analysis-reveals-regional-road-trauma-challenge/ - even if it is by a lobby group for spending money on roads.
MC, as Debby said, but as I said, the death rate on our Nullarbor Plains road? The Sturt and Stewart highways, which I think improved after the temporary reduction of speed limits were removed. Melbourne's inner area now has such congested traffic, it would hard to accidently kill anyone. The outer suburbs are of concern, but as you say, it is regional roads where the problem lies. I'll look at your link tomorrow.
DeleteI haven’t driven in the CBD for a long time now. I never disliked it, find it stressful and often found it interesting watching while waiting at the left of the road how other (not in the know) drivers negotiated the ‘only in Melbourne’ hook turns.
ReplyDeleteNow it would be different - different road rules, attitudes, ages of drivers, types of vehicles using the roads. Annoying and inconvenient as it can be at times I’ll take the train and use a tram - unless someone else can drop me where I need to go.
Do you remember when we were encouraged to say ‘crash’ and not accident’.
Cathy, never disliked or disliked it? If I am in town near where there is a hook turn, often enough I've seen drivers get them wrong.
DeleteWas the crash/accident a Faine thing? He was right.
Perhaps those in dark coloured states all "hit a deer and ran off the road".
ReplyDeleteRiver, yes wildlife on country roads will play a part, more so the faster you are driving.
DeleteIn the western states, there are vast open stretches of road and high speed limits (that are often not enforced.) Speed kills. In the south those are primarily very poor states with a lot of poorly designed roads.
ReplyDeleteTP, poor road design, poorer states. That's something I didn't think about.
DeleteIt's pleasing to read accidents are down. As you know we Tasmanians are used to driving into the city as we don't have such traffic problems like Melbourne or other large cities. $4.20 an hour to park behind the Mall here and it's a fairly big flat car park.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, when we went to your city park, I'm sure we found free street parking. By our parking costs in private car parks nearby our shops, $4.00 will give you two hours. Where we used to shop, free Aldi parking and free Woolworths parking.
DeleteNow I am curious about our statistics. I shall have to look it up.
ReplyDeleteI expect quite low JayCee.
DeleteInteresting statistics.
ReplyDeleteI thought so JB. Your road death toll is quite low.
DeleteNo idea, last time I was in the States was in 1984 !
ReplyDeleteGattina, what a different country it must have been in 1984.
DeleteI didn't do a lot of checking but in 2021 the rate here in Canada was 47 which was almost the same as yours. I'm not sure how that breaks down relative to seasons which could be interesting to see, Andrew.
ReplyDeletePat, yes seasons, which I never thought about. I assume your toll would be higher in winter than summer because of your weather.
DeleteRe. your final questions, yes, yes and yes -- although I'm not sure what any of that has to do with higher road fatalities. Maybe people in conservative states are more resistant to wearing a seat belt? It's interesting that no US state has a fatality rate in the lowest category.
ReplyDeleteSteve, there could be a myriad of reasons associated with what I mentioned. I thought New England would have better figures.
Delete