Simple Errors Driving Up Road Toll
The Victorian Government has released a new campaign urging motorists to avoid complacency behind the wheel with majority of deaths on Victorian roads caused by simple errors.
Analysis of Transport Accident Commission Data has revealed that tragic judgement errors, as opposed to intentional risk taking, have played a role in around 70 per cent of Victorian road deaths since 2017.
The new TAC campaign highlights the everyday concentration lapses that people are susceptible to when driving, and how distractions can have disastrous consequences.
Last year, 128 (58 per cent) road deaths in Victoria involved a common basic error like taking a corner too wide or a concentration lapse, opposed to high-risk behaviours such as speeding, drink-driving and drug-driving.
The campaign comes as the number of fatalities on Victorian road remains above the same time last year, with 63 people having lost their lives compared to 58 in 2021.
While intentional risky behaviour like excessive speed, using a hand-held device, drink driving and drug driving rightfully remain a strong focus of the Victorian road safety strategy, everyone is being reminded that even the best drivers can be a split second away from the unthinkable happening.
Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 aims to halve the number of fatalities and reduce serious injury in the state by 2030, with long-term goal of zero deaths and serious injuries.
The latest campaign from the TAC will run across social media over the next month, and follows the extension of the hard-hitting Lucky Ones Get Caught enforcement campaign and the new confronting motorcycle safety campaign, Only Protected for a Moment.