New Findings from University of Sydney in Risk Management Provides New Insights (Understanding international road safety disparities: Why is…

New Findings from University of Sydney in Risk Management Provides New Insights (Understanding international road safety disparities: Why is Australia so much safer than the United States?)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Research findings on Risk Management are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting out of Sydney, Australia, by VerticalNews editors, the research stated, "Despite similarities to the US in terms of transportation, land use, and culture, Australia kills 5.3 people per 100,000 population on the roads each year, as compared to the US rate of 12.4. Similar trends hold when accounting for distance driven and the number of registered cars."

Funders for this research include Mountain Plains Consortium, US DOT University Transportation Center program.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Sydney, "This paper seeks to understand what is behind the road safety disparities between these two countries. The results suggest that a number of inter-related factors seem to play a role in the better road safety outcomes of Australia as compared to the US. This includes Australia's strategies related to seat belt usage and impaired driving as well as their efforts to help curb vehicle speeds and reduce exposure. related differences include a much greater reliance on roundabouts and narrower street cross-sections as well as guidelines that encourage self-enforcing roads. Policy-related differences include stronger and more extensive enforcement programs, restrictive licensing programs, and higher driving costs. Combined with a more urban population and multimodal infrastructure, Australia tends to discourage driving mileage and exposure while encouraging safer modes of transportation such as transit, at least more so than in most of the US. Australia also enacted their version of Vision Zero - called the Safe System Approach - more than a decade before similar policies began cropping up in US cities."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "While it is difficult to attribute recent road safety successes to any specific policy, Australia continues to expand their lead on the US in terms of safety outcomes and is a road safety example worthy of consideration."

For more information on this research see: Understanding international road safety disparities: Why is Australia so much safer than the United States? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2018;111():251-265. Accident Analysis and Prevention can be contacted at: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Accident Analysis and Prevention - www.journals.elsevier.com/accident-analysis-and-prevention/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting W.E. Marshall, University of Sydney, Inst Transport & Logist Studies, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2017.11.031. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Sydney, Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Risk Management, University of Sydney.

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