The authorities are determined to improve road safety alongside reducing the risk of road accidents on Australian highways so they will be deploying new speed limits on certain stretches on highways soon. It is noted that there is nothing punitive in the limit. It is more of a preemptive approach to make the lives of the Australian citizens safer every time they are out of the highway.
Government Response to Road Fatalities
The attempts to control the unregulated speed limits have unfortunately shown a harmful trend in the disappearing road accidents. This made the Federal and the State Government do a joint evaluation of the results and consider new reform policies for speed limits. Transport Safety Australia has shown that there is more than a fair share of the accidents on highways vis a vis the vehicles which are being driven rashly. With the stargic target zone speed limits, we are confident that there will be a marked decrease in the critical trauma and fatalities. It is for this reason that the policies will be implemented and speed limits are not for the convenience of the motorists. It is solely for the sake of humanity, and we intend to save lives which have become the focus, as a government representative has said, “This change is driven by data.”
Scope of the Changes
The implementation of the new policies will be done on highways that have been observed to be more accident-prone, and have been poorly designed rural extensions. For instance, It has been decided that sections that were limited to 110km/h will now be reduced to 100km/h. However, some sections that were classified as dangerous bends, or accident prone corridors will be reduced further, to 90km/h. Metropolitan Highways which previously limited to 100km/h, with high traffic volume will now be reduced to 100km/h, with stricter enforcement. These will be applicable to all states at the end of this year.
Reaction to Changes
It can be argued that the public response to the expected outcome has been neither positive nor negative. A certain number of drivers believe that the approach adopted will minimize the chances of avoidable tragedies as well as minimize the stress that comes with lengthy drives. On the contrary, some with opposing view believe that having more of these lanes will cause more frustration, longer travel time as well as more chances of violations. There is a sector of this population, specifically truck drivers, that feel very strongly about the delays that will result during the delivery. In response, the authorities promised to implement ‘educational’ campaigns aiming to lower speeds and highlighting the fact that lower speeds increase survival chances during a road traffic crash.
Enforcement and Awareness Campaigns
In order to low the compliance gaps, identified police patrol units, and open speed traps will be more visible within the identified areas. Other than that, policy makers want to implement more ‘educational’ than ‘punitive’ measures. Primary and secondary safety educational programs will be disseminated through radio, television, and the Internet, emphasizing primarily that the policy shifts are being implemented for the sake of the driver and their family. More road signs in identified problem areas will also reduce confusion for drivers that are ‘outsiders’ to the new traffic law changes.
Steadfast and Statement of Unadulterated Truth
Presumably, these alterations will ensure that Australia is more committed than before to road safety. This progress is also rooted in provided and documented government press releases and road authority statistics. As such, the statements provided, and nothing more, are the real and factual, nothing is false. Nothing more than the documented policy shifts has the intention of enabling Australia to build more desirable road manners so that driving confidence on highways is more easily achieved. Evidence-based policy making is one way the authorities can regain lost confidence and cut out unnecessary accidents on the country’s road.
