I opened this thread because I have tried to inform people of things they should and should not do on the road; in a car or what-ever. Official bodies need to impliment strategies NOW instead of waiting for some no nothing beaurocrat to magically suggest what people have been screeming about for decades. I want to talk about the 4 things that make an accident on the road. They are - the car, the driver, the weather, the road. These things alone make an accident. What's even more important is the physcology of driving and what councils must look at when they attempt to fix a black spot [ or inadvertantly creat one by stupidity ]

Pepper, I think by far the main factors that make an accident are the driver and one factor that you didn’t mention; the police.

A lack of proper driver-training seems to be a much bigger factor than the car, the weather or the road. If drivers were properly trained, they would be able to handle just about any situation that the car, the weather or the road presented.

The rules of the road are just so goddam poorly policed. The police turn a blind eye to just about everything except speed and drink-driving. OK they tackle some other things some of the time, but in a very sporadic manner that really amounts to a piss-weak token effort. But overall, they allow drivers to get away with a lot of risky behaviour that they just shouldn’t get away with. Drivers are not held to account for their actions on the road!

I witness impatient and aggressive driving all the time. This is especially obvious on the Bruce Highway, where tailgaiting at 105kmh and dangerous overtaking are rife. The police just simply don’t deal with these things, or I should say, only deal with them if they result in an accident. You simply cannot get anywhere if you make a complaint about a driver’s dangerous antics unless it is extreme. ‘Normal’ tailgaiting and other impatient and aggressive driving – the sort of thing that causes many accidents - just gets the big blind eye from the police, both directly and by way of not fulfilling their responsibilities to deal with complaints.

Please see my copious comments on this whole subject at http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=2877#20951

That's Oh so true. Todays drivers have to cope with so much and It appears that because of the accelerated life style, drivers expect all things to march boldly into the 21st century and they can have their brains in neutral. Doesn't work that way I'm afraid. The very first step is better driver education but authorities appear to think that a big stick works better than a carrot [ also gets more revenue]. But while authorities have seemingly deliberatly neglected to target this aspect for what ever reason, they have also compounded the situation by giving drivers an excuse for accidents that seem to be either an act of god or can be effectivly blamed on the other 3 factors. 'That pot hole caused my accident - sue the council" or 'My car had a blowout ' or 'This storm came over in a flash'. It's no good throughing total responsibility on the driver if authorities do nothing to help good drivers - poor roads, poor signage, no studies on why accidents happen dispite all care. All good drivers pay the price both for bad users AND crunbling infrastructure. I have had one accident in 40 odd years [ and that was an act of god ] but have had many a near miss - not because of idiots, I can avoid these, but because of stupid and culpable infrastructure - signs, lights, roads and it's these that can reduce the road toll more than pulling the hand full of idiots off the road. 5% of all drivers cause 90% of all accidents involving 2 or more vehicles BUT 90% of all accidents involving the single vihicle [ hitting a stationary object eg ] are caused by 90% of the conditions. wet roads, faulty or non existant signs, faulty vehicles, etc.

Pepper, I can’t see that infrastructure or road conditions amount to much of a hazard at all. After 31 years of prolific driving across the country, regularly in all sorts of conditions from highway to low-range 4WD, the overwhelming factors for me are driver stupidity and the extraordinarily inadequate policing regime.

This amounts to one overwhelming problem – woefully poorly trained drivers that are just not held accountable for their actions….until it is too late.

Pepper, you missed another factor that is an issue driving on country roads - animals. Yes, drivers should pay enough attention to avoid, but there are certain circumstances where it is impossible to avoid.

Ludwig I see your point. Basically, no matter what the condition of the road, the driver should adjust their driving to suit the road. Problem is, most dont, and if you are the lone driver on a busy road that DOES adjust their speed, then you inadvertenly create greater general danger from the idiots jostling to get past you. The roadworks at Parkes in NSW are a welcome upgrade to the road, but I have had dozens of near misses since they started the works, due simply to idiots. Eg, a B-double getting impatient and overtaking 4 cars at a time, on a blind bend. Needless to say, I bascially stopped my car as he went past me to make sure there was plenty of buffer zone in case something came around the corner. Some of the behaviour on the road is just scary.

sadly this debate has been high-jacked by our Politicans and
the many and various police forces that have taken it upon themselves to "control" drivers.
The comment made by one correspondent is typical of the level of national debate,"I was tail- gated on the Bruce Highway at 105 kph."
SO WHAT.Move over and let her go past,That is the answer to this problem.
On a more serious note.The current use of seven different interpretations of how to control traffic when approaching National Highway One is typical of the problem.
In some States a stop sign behind a hedge is used as in South Australia,A state where zero tolerance is Policed,and a reluctance of that state to introduce a sign such as used in the UK."STOP AT MAJOR ROAD, then A STOP SIGN.Rather logical but logic is never used in the national debate.
Sadly when I suggested this to a Senior Police Road Safety Officer the answer was Drivers should know our road rules,So next time you drive 18 kilometres to Mount Gambier from Victoria Read the S.A. Road rules.
Sadly last month a Victorian driver was killed after not noticing the sign hidden by the hedge.
He would have been alive if the Policeman I had spoken to had listened to logic.
The Police control of drivers in Australia would not be tolerated in any other civilised Country.
Australian Police have the worst reputation of any Police Forces in the world for lack of intelligent traffic control.
Drivers of Heavy Vehicles have been forced off the road for exceeding the 100 kph national speed limit, yet these vehicles travel some of the worlds quietest national highways.Most Interstate trucks could easily travel at 150kph and this would solve the number of drivers who fall asleep at 90kph.
Many modern cars travel at 200kph in perfect safety.
The tyrany of distance is what is holding back progress in Australia.