Rural Roads

ACRS Policy Position

ACRS concurs with the OECD, which has concluded that the problems of safety on rural roads have 'been neglected in comparison with those in urban areas'.   The College recognises that because of the presence of a different mix of causal factors, when comparing urban and rural crashes, different approaches are required to solve the problem. 

It is concluded that more resources for engineering and enforcement are required, but motorists must be educated to modify their driving behaviour to recognise variable road conditions.

Objective

To address the disproportionate occurrence, severity and cost of vehicle crashes on rural and regional roads.

To highlight that, in rural areas compared with urban areas, causal factors are distinctively different and the countermeasures are insufficient, especially in terms of resources for engineering and enforcement.

To recommend the need for education and enforcement of driving behaviour that recognises that speed must be adapted to the variable road designs and conditions.

To encourage rural and regional communities to take ownership of the problem in their own area.

Discussion

International and Australian research has identified the issues that confront safe travel in regional centres and rural areas. In Australia, the NHMRC Road Accident Research Unit at University of Adelaide undertook a pioneering at-scene study of a sample of rural crashes in Australia in 1986-87.

This has been followed by research and planning publications ( Grigg, 2000 ). These include:

• NRMA (National Roads & Motorists' Association,1990, 'Rural Highway Safety' (submission to the NSW State Coroner), NRMA, Sydney);
• NSW RTA   (Sweatman P, Ogden, K, Haworth N, Pearson, R and Vulcan P, 1990, Heavy Vehicle Safety on Major NSW Highways: A Study of Crashes and Countermeasures, Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, Sydney);
• National Road Trauma Advisory Counciland Austroads (Henderson, Michael, 1995, 'An Overview of Crash Data and Countermeasure Implications', presented at the Rural Road Safety Seminar - Focus for the Future, Wodonga.);
• National Road Safety Strategy Implementation Task Force (National Road Safety Strategy Implementation Task Force, 1996, Australia's Rural Road Safety Action Plan, Federal Office of Road Safety, Canberra);
• NRMA (McKay, Peter, 1999, 'The Long Run', The Open Road, November/December, pp. 21-23, NRMA, Sydney);
• Motor Accident Authority of NSW; Motor Accident Commission of SA ( Kloeden, C N, McLean, A J, Baldock, M R J, and Cockington, A J T, 1999, Severe and Fatal Car Crashes Due to Roadside Hazards, Motor Accident Commission, Adelaide)

Unfortunately, the OECD is still able to say that the problems of safety on rural roads have 'been neglected in comparison with those in urban areas' (OECD, 'Safety Strategies for Rural Roads' OECD Website). This is a major factor in the overall road toll. The OECD reports that in each year, more than 75,000 people (more than 60% of all fatalities) are killed on rural roads in OECD countries. Socio-economic costs of this toll amount to $US 135 billion per year. Single vehicle crashes constitute more than 35% of all fatal rural road crashes.

In Australia, the preliminary Fatality File of the Federal Office of Road Safety was used as a data source in 1995 to obtain an overview of the rural road safety problem. Nearly half of all fatal crashes in Australia occur on rural roads and another 14% in towns with less than 50,000 people. While the urban fatality rate has declined in the interim, the fatality rate in rural areas has increased markedly. The chance of being killed on a rural road per kilometre driven is 4 - 6 times greater than on urban roads (Sheehan, 2001 ).

Responses to enquiries about the implementation of Australia's Rural Road Safety Action Plan 1996 leave no doubt that little has been done to ensure progress, nationally. In some cases, eg, Queensland, the strategy has been taken into account when refining state action plans (Queensland Transport and Main Roads, 1999, 'Submission to the Parliamentary Travelsafe Committee's Inquiry into Rural Road Safety in Queensland', Queensland Transport/Queensland Department of Main Roads, Brisbane).

In 'the bush', the causal factors are, to a large extent, distinctively different; the countermeasures are insufficient, especially in terms of resources for engineering and enforcement; and crash casualties are disproportionately more numerous. Also, the crashes are more severe and almost twice as costly.

Apart from common factors such as speeding, lack of seat belt wearing, and driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs, the problem for regional and rural Australia has distinctive crash causal factors. These include:

• higher Travel Exposure Rate   (in deaths per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled);
• fewer alternative modes of transport;
• greater driver fatigue and boredom;
• wider variety of road conditions (width, sealing, alignment, divided);
• many narrow, unsealed roads;
• larger number of roadside hazards and uncontrolled animals;
• greater speed variation, caused by stretches of single lanes and the presence of buses, heavy trucks and agricultural vehicles, generate more crashes through risky overtaking, than on urban roads;
• enforcement of traffic laws by traditional methods is more difficult and expensive;
• longer response times to provide emergency care and trauma recovery for crash victims.

The research has consistently found that the frequent cause of crashes is 'loss of control when wheels run on unsealed road shoulders'. Paving the shoulders of rural roads has been a long standing recommendation, dating back to the recommendations of the NHMRC RARU studies in 1986-87.

The significance of roadside hazards in severe and fatal vehicle crashes also has been investigated (Kloeden, C N, McLean, A J, Baldock, M R J, and Cockington, A J T, 1999, Severe and Fatal Car Crashes Due to Roadside Hazards, Motor Accident Commission, Adelaide). The conclusions included:

• Roadside hazards were the immediate cause of at least one death in 40 per cent of all crashes in which a car occupant was fatally injured in South Australia from 1985 to 1996.
• Collisions  with roadside hazards were the immediate cause of 39 per cent of all car occupant deaths during those years.
• Policies result in insufficient funds to maintain country roads and consequently, development, apart from major highways and metropolitan traffic relief construction is not possible. The only major recognition of the need for greater emphasis on this problem has come from the 'black spots' program funded by the Federal Government.

In August 1996,the Federal Minister for Transport and Regional Development, Hon John Sharp MP, announced amongst several road safety measures, a federally funded 'black spots' programme for the improvement of more than 400 chronic crash sites around Australia. Half ($18 million per year) of the total 'black spot' funding (approximately $149 million in total to the year 2000) was made available for projects in rural areas.

This was a move to introduce a programme that previously operated but was abandoned in 1992. The emphasis of the revitalised programme was on rural roads and on wide participation in identifying 'black spots' for appraisal.

In addition, the Federal Government pledged $75 million per year over 10 years to the reconstruction of the Pacific Highway. This is half the cost (Queensland and New South Wales governments to provide the balance) for an upgrade of the entire highway. This particular highway has the worst crash record in Australia.

The announcement that half of the funds that would be allocated to rural problems was in recognition of the incidence and severity of crashes which occur in the country. These crashes are usually at higher speeds and there is less likelihood of prompt medical attention for victims. Approximately 65% of fatal crashes occur in rural areas and country towns.

The stopgap countermeasure on poor roads becomes education and enforcement of driving behaviour, which recognises that speed must be adapted to the variable road designs and conditions. McKay (1999) has warned of the dangers of 'driving at speeds which are inappropriate for the prevailing weather or road conditions'. Although the majority of drivers killed on rural roads are country residents, a significant number are from urban areas and they may not be familiar with changed driving conditions on rural roads.

Because of greater distances travelled and the likelihood of fatigue, stops every two hours are important. Driver Reviver Programmes have an important function. Brownlow presented a paper on the Queensland Driver Reviver Programme that emphasised the importance of involvement of the community in a programme coordinated by Queensland Transport and Queensland Police Service at 30 sites throughout Queensland. The paper concluded that 'Queensland's experience in the Driver Reviver Programme has been that communities display high levels of energy, ownership, involvement, initiative and autonomy. These, matched with effective state wide coordination and governmental support, account for the programme's success in terms of both patronage and impact on road trauma' . (Brownlow, Doug, 1998, 'Utilising Volunteers to Reduce Fatigue Related Crashes in Queensland', The Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial Australasian Traffic Education Conference, EMU Press, Armidale).

The medical implications of road trauma are compounded by the distances involved and the time delays which result in transferring victims, especially those with spinal and head injuries, from crash sites to specialist treatment centres. There is evidence that the survival rate of crash victims is prejudiced by the time lag between the crash and emergency aid and recovery.

Country communities need to take ownership of the road safety problem in their particular area. There are demonstration community projects initiated by local groups, supported by government agencies and road safety professionals (Connor, 2000).

References:

Brownlow, Doug, 1998, 'Utilising Volunteers to Reduce Fatigue Related Crashes in Queensland', The Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial Australasian Traffic Education Conference, EMU Press, Armidale.

Connor, Brian, 2000, ACRS Year Book, p. 7, Australian College of Road Safety, Canberra.

Grigg, Colin, 2000, 'Rural Road Safety in Context: Some Historical Recommendations and Findings', in RoadWise, Vol 12 No 3, EMU Press, Armidale.

Henderson, Michael, 1995, 'An Overview of Crash Data and Countermeasure Implications', presented at the Rural Road Safety Seminar - Focus for the Future, Wadonga.

Kloeden, C N, McLean, A J, Baldock, M R J, and Cockington, A J T, 1999, Severe and Fatal Car Crashes Due to Roadside Hazards, Motor Accident Commission, Adelaide.

Lydon, Mary, 1997, 'Rural Crashes and Available Countermeasures' at 14 th Annual Municipal Engineering State Conference, Perth, March 5-7.

McKay, Peter, 1999, 'The Long Run', The Open Road, November/December, pp. 21-23, NRMA, Sydney.

The NHMRC Road Accident Unit at University of Adelaide undertook the first at-scene study of a sample of rural crashes in Australia in 1986-87.

National Road Safety Strategy Implementation Task Force, 1996, Australia's Rural Road Safety Action Plan, Federal Office of Road Safety, Canberra.

National Roads & Motorists' Association,1990, 'Rural Highway Safety' (submission to the NSW State Coroner), NRMA, Sydney.

OECD, 'Safety Strategies for Rural Roads' OECD Website.

Queensland Transport and Main Roads, 1999, 'Submission to the Parliamentary Travelsafe Committee's Inquiry into Rural Road Safety in Queensland', Queensland Transport/Queensland Department of Main Roads, Brisbane.

Sheehan, Mary, 2002,' Impaired Driving on Rural Roads A Neglected Problem', Reporter - the   Newsletter ofICADTS, Lafayette, USA.

Sweatman P, Ogden, K, Haworth N, Pearson, R and Vulcan P, 1990, Heavy Vehicle Safety on Major NSW Highways: A Study of Crashes and Countermeasures, Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, Sydney.