University of Adelaide associate professor and director of the Centre for Automotive Safety Research Jeremy Woolley and Dr John Crozier, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ Trauma Committee chair, have been appointed co-chairs of the National Road Safety Strategy inquiry. Federal infrastructure and transport minister Darren Chester announced his choice for co-chairs recently highlighting that their knowledge and efforts will help us to improve strategy and reduce road trauma. He went on to explain that part of their responsibilities would include identifying future priorities for making roads safer. It is hoped the inquiry will help improve the effectiveness of the existing strategy, given fears that road users have become complacent about road safety,

“I’m worried that we are too accepting of the fact 1,300 Australians will die on our roads and tens of thousands will be injured this year,” “Road trauma has an enormous social impact and in economic terms, road injury costs our nation an estimated $30 billion per year. “I don’t accept that as a price we have to pay for a modern transport system. “The re-evaluation of the existing strategy is about setting the national agenda for years to come. “After decades of reductions in road trauma, we have experienced a spike in several states in recent years and it’s timely to review the national strategy, in partnership with the state government and the community.”

Source: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1709/new-inquiry-on-national-road-safety-strategy-begins The inquiry will assess the current actions and determine new ways to minimise the number of fatalities and serious road crash injuries.This will help all stakeholders work together to improve safety, Mr Chester said.

“Building on our understanding of best practice in road safety management will assist policy makers, industry and our emergency services to address the challenges we face, as well as identify where we can work better together,” Chester says. “No-one is expecting a single solution to reducing road trauma and we all need to take responsibility for our actions on our nation’s roads as we work towards a safer system.

Source: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1709/new-inquiry-on-national-road-safety-strategy-begins Mr Chester said this inquiry would complement other road safety investments currently in place including the black spot program and heavy vehicle safety initiatives. The inquiry’s findings will be used to help set future federal government policy priorities. The federal government already has a $75 billion infrastructure investment program across the country, the Mr Chester says is changing and saving lives. He says the inquiry will help the government make better road safety investment decisions in the future. The inquiry is expected to come to a close in early 2018. Mr Chester said he would be encouraging interested stakeholders to take part in round-tables and share experiences through a submission process that will become clear in the coming months.