The latest Road Safety Action Plan is designed to halve deaths and reduce serious injuries on the roads. It focuses on safer road users, safer vehicles and safer roads. But it doesn’t have anything to say about distraction from mobile phones or touchscreens, which may cause two thirds of crashes.
The 2031 Road Safety Action Plan
The new Road Safety Action Plan is designed to halve deaths and reduce serious injuries on the roads. It takes the Safe System approach, which recognises that people make mistakes and the whole road network should be designed to protect road users.
What the Plan aims to do
This is a selection of what the Plan aims to do:
- Invest in barriers, rumble strips, intersection upgrades to improve safety ratings on high-risk regional roads
- Improve safety for e-bike riders with stronger regulation, enforcement and education
- Learn from the recent trial of average speed cameras to see if they could be expanded to light vehicles
- Deter high-risk behaviours through further roadside enforcement capability and roadside testing
- Improve pedestrian safety with safer crossings and targeted infrastructure
- Protect vulnerable pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists with road safety infrastructure and safer speed limits
- Reform the Motorcycle Graduated Licensing Scheme through enhanced rider training and a new Online Rider Knowledge Test
What about distraction from mobile phones?
The Plan doesn’t say anything about distraction from mobile phones or touchscreens, which may cause two thirds of crashes. Research by Allianz Centre for Technology included 34,000 crash cases, eye-tracking studies, a driving simulator study, an international driver survey, and review of over 80 published studies.
The Allianz research found:
- One in 5 Australian drivers report causing or partly causing a crash in the past 3 years.
- Of those, two thirds say distraction played a definite or possible role – double the official rate.
- 35% of Australian drivers admit they occasionally type messages on a handheld phone while driving.
- 56% want stronger penalties for phone use behind the wheel.
Distraction from touchscreens
It may be unwise to underestimate distraction from touchscreens. Australian Automobile Association found poor menus demand up to 11 taps to, e.g., change air conditioning or enter a navigation destination. This takes 6 seconds, which is long enough to travel 100 metres blind at 60 kmph.
Allianz research found:
- Three quarters say distractions from in-vehicle technologies have increased in recent years.
- Nearly a third report danger while using a vehicle touchscreen, including hard braking, a near miss, or a crash.
Meanwhile, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), now docks points if a manufacturer doesn’t provide a physical button, stick or permanently dedicated section of a touchscreen for these functions: indicators, headlights, windscreen wipers, hazard lights and horn.
It is interesting that the Road Safety Strategy 2031 did not mention these other contributions to road safety.