A clear majority of road users believe education is the most important road safety strategy, according to a preliminary review of a major survey on attitudes to road safety strategies.
Survey author Dr João Canoquena of the University of Notre Dame Australia says it is too early to reach conclusions from the survey.
“Road maintenance was mostly associated with motorcycle rider safety,” he says.
“Nearly half (47%) of the mentions of this road safety strategy were associated with motorcycle rider safety.
“Likewise, advertising of safety driving was more associated with motorcycle rider than any other road user group. In fact, 57% of the mentions of this strategy were linked with motorcycle rider safety.”
Volunteers needed
We need you!João says motorcycle riders dominated the survey after Motorbike Writer called for riders to ensure their voices were heard when transport authorities draft safety strategies.
Now João needs your help again.
He is seeking three volunteers to help him go through the results to rate the road safety options.
“We have collected over 800 safety strategy responses, divided into five categories (motorcycle rider safety, scooter rider safety, cyclist safety, pedestrian safety and car occupant safety),” Joao says.
“For a journal publication, I need to have the safety responses rated by at least two more people.”
João explains that rating involves placing the 800+ responses into categories such as education, training, enforcement etc.
Volunteers will need some patience, commitment and Excel software to fill in the ratings.
You can volunteer by contacting João by clicking here and sending him an email.
Education wins in initial results
While the results are yet to be properly rated, an early reading of the results show that a clear majority of road users believe education is the most important road safety strategy.
Riders also thought road maintenance was more important than any other user group.
|
Road safety strategies |
Cyclist |
Motorcyclist |
Pedestrian |
Scooter rider |
Passenger |
Total |
|
Advertising of safety driving |
0 |
8 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
|
Alcohol and drug testing |
0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
17 |
|
Distracted driving law enforcement |
1 |
3 |
16 |
10 |
17 |
47 |
|
Driver and rider training |
0 |
23 |
14 |
31 |
26 |
94 |
|
Graduated licensing schemes |
0 |
7 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
17 |
|
In-vehicle technology |
0 |
9 |
2 |
8 |
11 |
30 |
|
Lane filtering |
0 |
10 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
17 |
|
Law enforcement |
0 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
15 |
|
Mandatory helmet laws |
4 |
10 |
0 |
12 |
3 |
29 |
|
Motorcycle-friendly road design |
0 |
17 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
27 |
|
Pedestrian crossing rules |
0 |
0 |
21 |
1 |
0 |
22 |
|
Pedestrian distraction awareness |
0 |
0 |
26 |
0  |
0 |
26 |
|
Protective and reflective clothing |
0 |
15 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
37 |
|
Regulation of vehicle equipment |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
41 |
|
Road maintenance |
0 |
11 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
23 |
|
Safety road design |
0 |
4 |
7 |
1 |
15 |
27 |
|
Speed limit management |
0 |
7 |
33 |
12 |
7 |
59 |
|
Traffic separation |
59 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
61 |
|
Total |
64 |
134 |
129 |
134 |
142 |
603 |