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Bringing Home Road Safety - a case study on road safety governance in Victoria. Graeme Macmillan Richard Marton Beating the Road Toll Symposium Centre for Public Policy/Ciptanet International Melbourne University 17 October 2005. Outline.
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Bringing Home Road Safety- a case study on road safety governance in Victoria Graeme Macmillan Richard Marton Beating the Road Toll Symposium Centre for Public Policy/Ciptanet International Melbourne University 17 October 2005
Outline • Discuss road safety as a cross cutting social policy issue • Start with a local government 5-Year road safety strategy prepared in 2000/01 • Review the State’s strategy ‘arrive alive! 2002 – 2007’ and current management arrangements • Conclude with some ideas and recommendations for beating the road toll www.ciptanet.com
Approach to Road Safety • John Faine, Radio Melbourne, “Road safety is our No 1 social issue” • Very complex, broad reaching “cross cutting” policy issue involving health, community safety, policing, regulation, infrastructure, economics, finance and politics • Everyone has definite views – the problem is where do these views end up? www.ciptanet.com
Governance, management and organisational structures in Victoria • Our approach is to assess road safety from the governance, management and organisational structuring viewpoint • Hypothesis – better governance arrangements can help beat the road toll • Are the current structure and strategies sufficient? • Is there rational decision making where and how we spend road safety money? www.ciptanet.com
Causes of road accidents www.ciptanet.com
Who is responsible? Case of a Hoppers Crossing motor cyclist killed 6pm, 8th May, after hitting a bull in Doherty’s Road, Tarneit, reported in The Age, 10 May - • Cattle reported loose on road two days earlier • Happened at dusk on a single carriageway • Residents had been lobbying for the two-lane Dohertys Road, a known accident blackspot, to be widened. • ‘A VicRoads spokesman said the part of Dohertys Road where the accident happened was a local road and responsibility for its maintenance rested with the council.’ The Age, 10 May www.ciptanet.com
Current road safety responsibilities • Determined mostly under Road Management Act 2004 which defines types of roads • Otherwise shared between 3 levels of government, Parliament, government agencies, government business enterprises, police and emergency services, private sector road managers and not- for-profit organisations • Case for aligning responsibility and accountability for performance and funding www.ciptanet.com
Local government road safety strategy • Developed a five-year road safety strategy in 2000 for Melbourne municipality Key features • Adopted Vision Zero as philosophy • Safety placed ahead of mobility • Provided a framework for Council policy development on road safety measures • Included many ‘soft’ program objectives www.ciptanet.com
Key findings from strategy development process • Road safety is a very important issue to people • Most people have very definite views on improving road safety • Problem of how to satisfy all expectations • Difficulty in feeding ideas into government because of unclear contact points, mixed responsibilities, and minimum community involvement www.ciptanet.com
State Government and Traffic Authorities Victoria Police and Emergency Services Community Groups and Associations COUNCIL YOU OTHER ROAD USERS www.ciptanet.com
COUNCIL ROAD SAFE External Partners Community Partners Council Policy, Procedures & Leadership Community Actions Road User Behaviour Urban Design & Infrastructure www.ciptanet.com
Dept. of Infrastructure Major Projects Police & Emergency Services Dept. of Education Dept of Human Services VicRoads Community Road Safety Council TAC Trams, Trains, Buses Bicycle Victoria MAV, LGPro Adjoining Councils City Link (Transurban) RACV Road User Associations Etc. External Partners www.ciptanet.com
Individual ratepayers & residents Educational institutions Youth organisations Aged and disability services Medical institutions Recreational and sports clubs Service clubs Retailers Commercial/ industrial entities Ethnic groups Hospitality entities Media Other community groups Etc. Community Partners www.ciptanet.com
Assessing ‘arrive alive! 2002 – 2007’ – the State government road safety strategy • Not ‘owned’ by any one organisation, although prepared by VicRoads • Sets out the interaction of the many entities involved in road safety programs • Revolving Ministerial chair • Several charts provide skewed information that favours existing programs • Key ministries unrepresented in some areas • Role of local governments subordinated • ‘Self serving bias’ towards infrastructure solutions www.ciptanet.com
Actual results Driver involved in accidents(from TAC Data base) [http://www.tac.vic.gov.au/jsp/statistics/reportingtool.do] 1999 to 2004 (5 year actual total) Fatalities Serious Injury • Age bracket 40 – 49 142 2997 • Age Bracket 60 – 69 93 1234 • Age bracket 70+ 140 1535 Therefore, even allowing for unequal age brackets, the number of fatalities for the 70+ people is less in real terms than the 40-49 group, and almost half the number of serious injuries www.ciptanet.com
Actual results Pedestrian accidents(from TAC Data base) [http://www.tac.vic.gov.au/jsp/statistics/reportingtool.do] 1999 to 2004 (5 year actual) Fatalities Serious Injury • Age bracket 5 - 20 48 1098 • Age bracket 40 – 49 37 422 • Age Bracket 60 – 69 47 311 • Age bracket 70+ 111 603 • Therefore, even allowing for unequal age brackets, the number of fatalities for the 70+ people is over twice the other brackets, and warrants special emphasis, as the serious injury in the 5 -20 bracket www.ciptanet.com
Role of TAC • Primarily a ‘no fault’ health insurer, with road safety as an added role • Expenditures undertaken on road safety off-Budget, and some programs not directly related to road safety issues • Large surplus from compulsory levies for motor vehicle insurance • Indirect methods of delivering of road safety programs (TV ads, sporting sponsorships) www.ciptanet.com
Our conclusions on the State strategy and governance arrangements • The present organisational structure is convoluted and indirect, and needs simplification • The State road safety strategy needs significant improvement to provide guidance to program deliverers – specifically by delivering programs related to actual local needs • The ‘steering not rowing’ principle should be followed by separating road safety organisationally and policy-wise from road management, and there should be accountability for performance by designating responsibility www.ciptanet.com
Recommendations • The State government should legislate Vision Zero as a moral imperative for all governments • The structure of road safety management needs simplification and connection between the problems and the solutions. The ‘self serving bias’ factor needs recognition when reviewing policy and structural responsibilities. • Local governments need to be more involved in road safety delivery programs, emphasising behavioural change (attitudes and skills), because they are closest to the people and to the problems. • Better community involvement; ‘bottom up’ solutions will hold the key, people want to be listened to. www.ciptanet.com
Some suggestions for local government programs • Help parents teach children to drive • Help families to stop elderly driving • ‘Advanced’ driving training courses • ‘One stop shop’ for road safety suggestions and ideas • Involvement of service clubs to build community awareness and run ‘soft’ road safety programs • Behavioural improvement programs for all drivers based on local issues (especially rural) www.ciptanet.com
Sign of the Future? This Council cares about Road Safety Local Speed Cameras www.ciptanet.com
