RTA Annual Report 2009 Complete - RTA - NSW Government

REVIEW OF OPERATIONS
Safety
The RTA works to maximise the
safety of the road environment,
vehicles and road user behaviour
The RTA and road safety
Fatalities
There were 374 fatalities on NSW roads in 2008 – a 14
per cent reduction from 2007 when 435 people died on our
roads. This result is the lowest annual NSW road toll since
1944, when the population was less than half that of 2008.
The NSW fatality rate per 100,000 population in 2008
was 5.4, the lowest fi gure since records began in 1908. This
also compares favourably with the rate for the whole of
Australia, which was 6.7 fatalities per 100,000 population in
2008. International comparisons show NSW ahead of other
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
countries such as France (7.5 fatalities per 100,000
population), Italy (8.7), New Zealand (9.4) and the United
States (13.6), but still behind the leaders the Netherlands
(4.3), the United Kingdom (5.0) and Sweden (5.2).
NSW has again broken records with further reductions in
the road toll.
The calendar year 2008 was the sixth year in a row that
the road toll has decreased in NSW – the fi rst time this
has happened since records began 100 years ago. This
record has been achieved despite there being 15 times
as many vehicles, 11 times as many licensed drivers and
double the population on our roads since 1944 – the last
time so few fatalities were recorded on NSW roads.
However, the road toll has been increasing signifi cantly in
2009. During the fi rst six months of 2009, provisional data
indicated that there were 232 fatalities on NSW roads,
an increase of 66 (or 40 per cent) compared to the same
period in 2008.
The RTA is implementing a ‘Safe System Partnership’ approach
to road safety, used effectively in Europe. This approach
recognises that human error is inevitable and requires roads
and roadside environments that are forgiving of driver error.
The NSW State Plan states:
“
we will reduce road fatalities
to 0.7 per 100 million vehicle
kilometres travelled by 2016”.
Based on Australian Bureau of
Statistics travel data for 2008,
the fatality rate per 100 million
vehicle kilometres in NSW in
2008 was 0.57.
Road safety is a key priority for the RTA and it is being
‘mainstreamed’ throughout the organisation. Under this
approach all managers are accountable for road safety
outcomes relevant to their area of responsibility. Road safety
performance indicators and road safety impact statements
guide investment decisions – road safety impact statements
are being completed for work programs to ensure programs
and projects meet desired road safety outcomes. The
Executive Road Safety Management Committee oversees a
coordinated approach to road safety. This year, as a further sign
of the prioritisation of road safety, the NSW Centre for Road
Safety began reporting directly to the RTA Chief Executive.
This chapter summarises the measures the RTA has taken
in the past year to improve the safety of roads, vehicles and
users. It also provides data about road fatalities in the past
year, trends in road fatalities and the key factors behind
the fi gures.
Section cover image: RTA staff member, Devaraj Muniswamy,
at the Huntingwood Crashlab, September 2007.
Photographer Geordie McRae.