Re: "Older drivers to blame for road toll"

Another year passes with another round of celebrations and 1800 more
people killed on our roads. Once more the Police wonder why their
efforts to reduce the road toll are in vain. Again the RTA hides in
the background claiming ignorance. At the same time they celebrate
gaining a billion dollars to build the Sydney Orbital ring road. Why?
To allow people to travel further, faster, cheaper in their cars. How
do we reconcile the message from the RTA that faster is better with
the knowledge that speed kills?

Every year it's the same. Travel more slowly (on faster roads), pay
more attention to the roads (ignore the advertising), be more
courteous (but get there on time). Isn't it about time that we decided
what matters to us? Is the 12 minutes saved by the Orbital more
important than the people killed last year?

By changing our transport priorities we could dramatically reduce the
road toll. Reduce the emphasis on speed and convenience for motorists,
focus instead on making the roads safer for everyone. Buses and trains
are safer than any car, so let's have more of those. Cycling and
walking are healthy alternatives, so let's see more encouragement of
them. We don't need to pay 600 lives to the "road toll" in NSW, or 1800 
across Australia.