Can't agree with you on this one Ludwig old mate. I think one of the danger factors is our ridiculously low speed limits. The hardest thing about a long run today, trundling along at at a mind numbing 100Km/H is staying awake.

That run between Marlborough & Sarina is almost designed to lull anyone to sleep.

Back in the old days, [where's my violin], I used to average around 65/70 MHP in a fifties yank tank towing a trailer, with my Brabham in it, on over night runs to Brisbane or Melbourne. This was on roads much worse that the so called "horror stretches" today.

I had only one safety rule. The moment my concentration even started to wander, I would stop, even in the middle of no where, & walk around the rig a few times in the cold. Why is our racing is mostly in winter?

I would then stop for coffee & food at the next roadhouse.

A lot of us did that, & speed was no problem. The only ones that got into trouble were those who would have a beer or two before starting. Even then it was falling asleep, not being drunk that got them them.

When I was commuting from Hervey Bay to the Gold Coast, the dangerous bit was arriving around Nambour about 5.00AM, & trying to stay awake that was dangerous. Further north I could slide around a few corners, usually on the range south of Tiaro, generating a dose of adrenaline, that would keep you awake for an hour or more.

When my daughter flies in from Darwin, arriving about 5.00AM, I always pick her up in a convertible, roof down, to help stay awake. That run from Beenleigh to the airport, up the expressway, in the comfortable cocoon of a saloon is another designed to lull one to sleep.

I reckon many of our head on smashes were someone going to sleep, or loosing concentration, as the task of rolling down a main road at 100Km/H is just not demanding enough to maintain concentration for long periods.

Ludwig - If someone notifies someone (in this case the government responsible for the road) that there is something dangerous and they do nothing about it they can be sued.
So if they put up a warning sign they admit there is a problem which should have been fixed anyone having an accident would get a lot of money. There are enough ambulance chasers that will do it for a percentage of the payout.
The above scenario relates to councils and businesses but I am sure a good lawyer would go for the traffic authority

Phillip, the legal system, or more so, the way it gets manipulated by blood thirsty lawyers is a huge part of the problem, as instead of the common sense approach, which many people should adhere to, these legal eagles go to any lengths all in the name of making a buck. The old no win no fee.

As for police, they, like all other resources are short on money, as it has been pissed away in many directions, both at state and fed levels.

Evidence being in the fact that most speed traps are in places that simply raise much needed revenue. You know, on a straight stretch of 100k road.

As I say, it's all about funding, or lack of it.

Now as for accidents, cars are too easy to drive today, so concentration levels have been allowed to slip as a result. I also think all these air bags give a false sense of security to many drivers.

<< Can't agree with you on this one Ludwig old mate. >>

Can’t agree with what exactly, Haz? The idea that we need a much better regulatory regime to make the very large number of rank drivers pull their stupid looking woolly heads in a bit?!

One of the most eternally frustrating things that I encounter on my travels is the bullsh!t antics (which is just the normal driving behaviour) of many drivers. If you are sitting on or a bit over the speed limit, you very often get vehicles coming up quite quickly behind you, then sitting far too close and overtaking where it is barely safe to do so.

If you stick to the rules, and I mean a liberal interpretation of the rules, not a hard and fast pedantic absolute adherence, you get ABUSED left, right and centre by many other drivers.

And the really ugly part about it is that if you report it to the cops, they mostly simply DON’T WANT TO KNOW!! They don't want to know about even the worst instances!

SURELY this is what we need to work on, first and foremost!

And it SHOULD be easy, as per my last post.

continued

Haz I agree that speed limits are too low a lot of the time. But it really is a non-issue in terms of road safety.

A higher speed limit would tend to make some drivers concentrate a bit better I guess. But then they’d need to be more alert and tuned in when travelling at a higher speed just to counter the increased risk of mishap. Better alertness plus higher risk equals about the same level of safety, at best. And probably means a lower level of safety overall, when considering how most people drive.

What we absolutely need is vastly more speed limit signs, so that we are not left wondering what the bloody speed limit is half the time!

This is my second biggest eternal frustration when driving – so very often not knowing what speed zone you are in, because you haven’t seen a sign for some distance and can no longer be sure that you are still in the same zone, or because you have turned into a new road and not encountered a speed sign.

In the interests of road safety let s have a ten cents a ltr tax on fuel, all of it, and first job?
4 lane divided Bruce highway.

Oh NO! I hear the shouting now!
Then if we do not want to pay for it, go without something, drive according to the roads condition.