5. Of course, in conjunction with point 4, the real number of police on the roads, and in the whole road safety sector needs to be greatly increased

6. The police have got police ALL road rules that pertain to safety (and that means all road rules, full stop). They should place particular emphasis on aggressive, intimidating, offensive and impatient driving because drivers who exhibit these aspects are closely correlated with risk-takers and accident-causers. One of the main ways that this sort of driving manifests itself is in tailgating, which is something that goes completely unpoliced. Tailgating demonstrates that a driver does not understand or appreciate basic safety margins and risks. It demonstrates a willingness to drive in a risky manner for a high portion of the time. There is a very clear correlation between drivers who tailgate and drivers who cause accidents, as shown by nose-to-tail accidents being the number one source of motor vehicle insurance claims.

This needs to happen in conjunction with a publicity campaign, so that people who have come to understand that various laws don’t get policed, will be forewarned, rather than getting nabbed for things that the police have effectively trained them to do, by way of inaction

7. The policing regime has got to be uniform across the country.

I believe the young are good drivers.Their reflexes and intuition are strong.Too strong for us oldies on the roads that need to swerve out of their way to avoid an accident!
Do you REALLY want to curb road accidents? Well here is what you have to do:
How many people are killed on the roads every year,yet how many are given a licence?
The road toll says we must reduce every year ,yet hundreds, maybe thousands of new drivers are joining us on the roads each year and therefore the road toll truly isn't all that bad!
(How i would dearly wish that every Victorian would maintain the speed limit to stop those slimy bastards from picking up another cent of revenue from us.) What type of message would that send?

If you really want to stop hoons and idiots on our streets here is what our Government has to do:
Between the ages of 18 to 25 only bright pink Hyundais stock standard 4 cyl for males and white for the girls.That's it!
This way,they will only drive through the back streets at night for fear they will be seen by their mates and we as credible Victorian road users will be able to spot these probationary drivers on the road as they will be "lit up" in their colours of pink and white.
This will also help to curb the males ego of owning a bigger and more expensive car than i do.
Reduce the volume of techno rap/crap emminating from a stereo on wheels and lo how i would dearly LOVE to see Mr.Macho SuperStud roll up next to me at the lights in his bright pink 4 cyl stock standard Hyundai!
Truth is,an accident is just that,an accident.Not meant to happen but somehow did.It doesn't really matter how many die,only how many that can pay.Until we as a community force a change,....nothing more will happen.
I truly don't believe the government is serious about road safety.Not until i see Mr.Macho pull up beside me at the lights in his bright pink stock standard 4 cyl Hyundai.

Nothing positive is going to happen unless Judges and Magistrates WAKE UP and put these nongs off the road and make sure they stay off for the full term of the sentence. Jail repeat offenders. Idiots must be separated physically from the rest of road users.

O no, my run of consecutive postings has been terminated!! How awful.

Hold on….. there IS actually someone (2 people even!) out there who has read at least some of my raving-loony rantings and taken the time to respond. How excellent.

You make a very good point BlackBob. Let’s get rid of this absurd status-symbol penis-extension element to the cars of young males. They and all new drivers (and not 17 and 18 year-olds) should be required to start off with small cars (crikey, we have this sort of thing with motorbikes, why not cars?). Yes, something that would be very hard to construe as a status symbol should be enforced.

I have just driven around Tassie for four weeks in a bright red tiny pooncey Hyundai Getz hire car. It made me cringe when I first saw it – all I knew was that I had booked a small car, which was presumably some benign colour. But it was perfectly adequate.

Of course this also makes eminent sense with rapidly rising fuel prices, an ever-greater awareness of greenhouse gas emissions and an absolute imperative to reduce per-capita energy consumption in preparation for peak oil (see a whole range of my posts of these subjects under various threads on OLO).

I absolutely agree with you: “I truly don’t believe the government is serious about road safety”. But I don’t agree that the “road toll truly isn’t all that bad”. Even considering the forever greater number of drivers, we cannot for one moment condone or tolerate the horrific mortality and injury rates.