Sharing the Blame !

Road death statistics bring out the worst in politicians.  They usually result in promised police blitzes on driver behaviour and of course that results in more fine revenue flowing into the Treasury. Cars are the perfect target.  They are clearly identified by the number plate they are required to display and the person driving them must produce a photo license.   Motorists are the " sitting ducks " when there are calls to reduce the road toll.

Road deaths fall into a variety of categories.  Driver.  Passenger. motorcyclist. pushbike rider - and finally - pedestrian.   It seems that all those categories have either plateaued or dropped - except " pedestrian deaths " which increased 25% last year.   Sixty-one people died as a result of some sort of collision when they were sharing the road with vehicles.

Now there are calls from the Pedestrian Council of Australia for a reduction of the speed limit in the Sydney CBD and other shopping precincts - to just thirty kph.   As usual, the blame is heaped entirely on the shoulders of cars and their drivers, and the actions of pedestrians that bring about their own deaths is totally ignored.

If a car driver dares to even touch a mobile phone while driving, he or she will be heavily fined and suffer a loss of demerit points, and yet pedestrians wend their way through traffic crossing roads with their eyes glued to that little screen - without penalty.  Many walk through traffic wearing ear plugs and listening to talk back radio or enjoying music, oblivious to the world around them.

We have road crossings controlled with safety lights and yet these are usually ignored by many pedestrians who continue to cross against the " red " and impatient people simply dodge through the car stream to cross the road wherever they choose.   Apart from the distraction of mobile phones and music devices some of these pedestrians are affected by alcohol or drugs.

For most of last century the speed limit was set at sixty kph on city streets.  Safety concerns saw it decrease to fifty kph and further restrictions to just forty kph now apply at the start and finish of the school day outside schools.  This call for a further reduction to just thirty kph is placing the blame for bad pedestrian behaviour firmly on the motoring public and avoiding any measures that would require pedestrians to accept a behavioral change for their own safety.

It would be helpful if the CBD installed barriers to prevent pedestrians from crossing streets except at designated, light controlled crossing points.  A lot of the CBD will be car free in future and given over to pedestrian use entirely, but where cars and pedestrians do share streets it is essential that both be subjected to safety rules that control an orderly flow wherever these streams converge.  Pedestrians need to be contained on the footpaths - except where a designated crossing allows a street to be crossed.

Months ago the police and the media drew attention to what are called " Jay walking laws " that make it illegal for a pedestrian to cross a street other than at a designated crossing point.   For several days the cops were accosting law breakers - sometimes issuing warnings and sometimes handing out fines.
It was purely a cosmetic exercise - and it soon ceased.

Once again the politicians are looking at the soft option.   Further reduce the speed limit and choke the traffic flow rather than implement the measures to force pedestrians to comply with safe street crossings.  Bad pedestrian behaviour ignored by the police is simply an invitation for further excess and if this thirty kph law is implemented you can be sure it will be rigidly enforced with draconian fines and loss of demerit points.

No prize for guessing which option the politicians choose to take !