Fixing the roads can save lives
According to comprehensive research, fixing the roads has
a greater potential to save lives than most people think. The Federal
Government’s National Road Safety Strategy estimates that by 2010 around 332
lives could be saved each year through improved roads, 175 because of safer
vehicles, 158 by better driver behaviour and 35 by the use of new
technology.
The National Road Safety Strategy Action Plan
(2003-04) states, “although only a small part of road expenditure,
Black Spot programs were estimated to contribute over one-third of the
reduction in fatalities from this category.” An evaluation of
the program by the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics found
that it has been an outstanding success, preventing 32 fatal crashes
and 1,539 serious crashes during the three-year evaluation period. The
program generated a net present value of $1.3 billion dollars and a
benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 14. That is, for every dollar spent, there
was a social return of $14 in avoided road crash costs.
Proven ways to save lives
By
upgrading roads, lives can be saved. For example, because divided
roads ensure that lanes of opposing traffic are separated by a median,
and because they typically have wide shoulders and few intersections
and barriers around roadside hazards, the
risk of being involved in a crash when driving on a divided road is
much lower than that of a normal two-lane two-way road. In fact, as
can be seen from the table below, duplication (or separation of
opposing traffic flows by dividing roads) can reduce head-on crashes
by 90-100 per cent. |
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