Another Tourist Dies On Our Roads - This Time on Kakadu Highway

Weevil · Guru

Another Tourist Dies On Our Roads - This Time on Kakadu Highway

Roostertales · Senior Member

Wait til you drive in FNQ - tourists are a serious hazard to ones health. Port D to Cairns is diabolical !

Weevil · Guru

I don't think a lot of them are aware how to drive on our roads, especially if they go onto the gravel verges, any death on our roads is a tragedy though.

Some drive at night also, risking the roos and livestock that hang around these roads at night for the grass around the culverts etc.

Maybe they should be given a pamphlet on the dangers of driving on our remote roads etc, at least by the hire companies, and perhaps the tourist bureau's/visitors centres could stock some road safety ones as well for those driving those hand me down vehicles a lot of them drive.

-- Edited by Weevil on Monday 18th of May 2015 09:33:13 PM

elliemike · Guru

I remember reading about ten years ago. Country people think that it is nearly always City people who die on country Australia roads. Not knowing how to drive on bush roads.

The statistics at that time showed it was mostly country people died in country road accidents.

I just did a brief search and saw this.

Can anyone search how many of these were overseas visitors ?

This bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. It is produced monthly and published on BITRE's website on or around the 14th of each month. Data are sourced from the road traffic or police authorities in each jurisdiction.

April 2015 : At a glance

There was a total of 103 road deaths during the month of April 2015. In comparison to the average for April over the previous five years, the current figure is 4.3 per cent higher.
During the 12 months ended April there were 1,174 road deaths. This is a 0.4 per cent increase compared to the total for the 12-monthly period ended April 2014.
Presently the rate of annual deaths per 100,000 population stands at 5.0. Compared to the figure for the 12-monthly period ending April 2014, this is a 1.1 per cent reduction.

60 per cent of fatal crashes occur in rural Queensland despite making up only 40 per cent of the state's population. According to experts, the Far North and North West are significant problem areas

Studies by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland (CARRS-Q) have reinforced previous evidence that Far North Queensland is disproportionately represented in fatal crashes.

Experts claim the "fatal four" - seat belt use, drink driving, speeding and fatigue - were the major factors that were causing this.

Most agree, however, that there are measures that can help decrease the imbalance.

"40 per cent of Queenslanders live in rural areas ... [yet] in rural Queensland we have 60 per cent of the fatal crashes," says Gayle Sticher, who is conducting research with CARRS-Q. "So crashes are mostly a problem of rural areas [and] they're mostly rural residents. It's not the city folk, it's rural residents that are crashing."

-- Edited by elliemike on Monday 18th of May 2015 11:18:27 PM

Ozzie_Traveller · Senior Member

G'day all

..... and the other day I was told that "on the same day, 2- tourists had rollovers on the dirt road out to the Painted Desert just north of Coober Pedy"

Enjoy your travelling :)
Phil

Roostertales · Senior Member

Hi elliemike

Interesting data. I don't think the small % moves mean a lot in real time but the higher incidences in country Qld show some disregard for either safety or local area conditions.

When living in Mossman locals drove like maniacs when on the Capt Cook Hwy between Moss and Cairns this was particularly noticeable early morning and late afternoon which seemed to be when tradies were going and coming from work.. Tourists were more likely to drive on the wrong side but were much slower !

Hard to know which is more dangerous.

I saw some very bad incidences which left me feeling quite unsettled that they could have happened. WTF happened here !