Boost for road safety

The Australian government has committed an investment of AU$21 million for improvements to its national road-safety data hub, which will consolidate information from states and territories. 

In addition, it plans to incorporate a provision in its road-funding agreements with states and territories to create a requirement for the provision of a nationally consistent road-safety data set.

Carla Hoorweg, ANCAP’s chief executive officer, says there had previously been no requirement for state and territory jurisdictions to collect and publish nationally consistent road-crash data making it difficult for evidence-based policy and improvements to be developed. 

“This commitment sees a sensible approach to a clear and unequivocal need,” adds Hoorweg, pictured.

“Vehicle safety has improved in leaps and bounds over the past few decades as a result of focussed efforts from ANCAP and manufacturers. The number of registered vehicles on our roads, however, continues to grow and lives continue to be lost in crashes.

“The availability of a national dataset, which captures crash type, crash environment, crash speed and – importantly vehicle model information – will prove invaluable to further enhancing tests ANCAP undertakes, and safety improvements manufacturers and policy-makers can make.”