In the last twelve months ROAD TOLL DEATHS included 604 drivers, 231 passengers, 163 pedestrians, 278 motorcyclists and 34 cyclists who didn’t make it home. A sobering thought for us all. According to the latest BITRE research our risk has now increased by 31.6% based on statistics for the same period last year. (Monthly road crash death summary published by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics).
Currently nationwide we have 124 road toll deaths in July alone with 1,027 male road toll deaths and 294 women for the year.
According to the World Health Organisation a safe system approach to road safety could take into account people’s vulnerability and then accommodate for human error. This includes safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe vehicles, and safe road users, all of which must be addressed in order to eliminate fatal crashes and reduce serious injuries. Road traffic injuries can be minimised by taking action to address road safety in a holistic manner involving multiple sectors. By designing safer infrastructure and incorporating road safety features into land-use and transport planning, improving the safety features of vehicles; enhancing post-crash care for victims of road traffic crashes; setting and enforcing laws relating to key risks, and raising public awareness is the way forward.
Road Safety Summit Coming Soon – September couldn’t come soon enough and will hopefully encourage creative thinking about additional out-of-the-box solutions that can be implemented to help minimise rising numbers. Along with the regional road safety program, new mobile and fixed safety camera technology and publicity initiatives including “No-one Plans a Crash” and “Just Click” media campaigns we all need to be vigilant in our own personal responsibilities. Reducing your personal risk, the risk of your family, friends and workplace are all aspects we can change immediately.
What can you do as an individual? Considering your risk has now increased by over 30% what choices do you have that help minimise that risk?
Personal Solutions?
Our personal breathalyser device retails at $270 + GST and provides immediate comfort and fast results. Not only does this eliminate the guesswork in social situations it helps educate family and friends.
Our single use oral detect saliva drug test retails at $15 per test + GST opening the lines of communication to help educate family and friends who you may be concerned about.
Workplace Solutions?
As specialists in Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing we can assist with policy review, customised training programs, onsite testing services and consumables or sales and support for one of our workplace breathalysers or drug testing instruments designed and manufactured by us here in Australia. It doesn’t matter the size of your organisation or the industry you work within we are confident we can tailor a solution to help create a safer workplace and at a realistic price. Get in touch with our team here.
Client Case Study
BMD is a giant within the Australian civil construction industry employing more than 1700 people directly, as well as subcontractors and suppliers across multiple public government and private sector infrastructure projects. The challenge for BMD was to implement an effective alcohol and drug testing policy across a national portfolio of projects including metropolitan and remote sites, covering thousands of employees and without disruption of daily activities of staff and do this in a unionised environment continue reading the case study.
Don’t forget too – Your Voice Matters! If you have a new and innovative way to make roads safer, let the Road Safety Minister know about it! We can all help at reducing road toll deaths to ensure more people are making it home safely.