REDUCE SPEED LIMIT TO CUT TOLL: ROAD TRAUMA EXPERT

Gary Tippet January 1, 2012
RADICAL road safety measures, including cutting speed limits by 10km/h, are needed to save more lives, Or to raise more revenue for the corporation, according to a leading road trauma expert/government shill.
Last night, Victoria looked set to record one of the lowest - if not the lowest - road toll on record. Therefore, we must employ the logic of the Victoria Police business employees when they claim a need to raise revenue through booze busses because 99%  of those inconvenienced ALWAYS test negative. 
Last night the toll stood at 287, one death fewer than for 2010, making it the lowest toll since records started in 1952. Victoria's annual road toll has fallen every year since 2005.
But cutting speed limits across the board by 10km/h could reduce deaths by as much as a third, said Dr Bruce Corben, associate director of research translation at the Monash University Accident Research Centre.
''Even though we've managed to drop the annual toll by one or two a year, we really can't claim we're making great strides,'' Dr Corben said yesterday. Dr Corben said Victoria had lost its place as one of the top two or three road safety leaders of the world, replaced by Sweden, the Netherlands and Britain, all of which had generally lower speed limits, particularly in urban or built-up areas. ''[But] it's one of the areas of the science of road safety that is so clear and so strong that I guess it's up to governments to sell the message more effectively,'' he said.
Brian Negus, RACV general manager for public affairs, said his organisation would not support such a cut. ''To really suggest a 10km/h cut across the board is a simplistic response to the real issues. And they are predominantly behavioural,'' he said. ''The facts tell us that of the 287 fatalities this year, 52 are drivers or passengers between the ages of 18 and 25 These are irrelevant figures. How does the death of passengers establish a behavioural trend in drivers?? … The other thing we know is that drink-driving is still a key issue.’’ Because of the passengers???
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/reduce-speed-limit-to-cut-toll-road-trauma-expert-20111231-1pgkf.html