News - Australasian Bus and Coach

Figures released today by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, for every state in Australia except Victoria, show a small drop in both fatal road crashes involving buses and coaches and road fatalities in the crashes involving buses and coaches. The statistics for New South Wales, however, paint a gloomier picture, with six more road crashes and six more deaths in the first seven months of 2000, compared with the first seven months of 1999. Both figures rose from six to 12 for the periods being compared, with NSW being the only state to record a rise in the number of fatal accidents and the number of deaths. The poor statistics from NSW are the strongest contributor to the very small drop in the overall figures. Nationally, fatal road crashes involving buses and coaches (excluding Victoria) fell by one from 16 to 15 for the periods being compared and road fatalities in the crashes involving buses and coaches also fell by one from 16 to 15. The NSW figures are notable, given comments yesterday by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Senator Ron Boswell, that NSW roads claimed 43% more lives in the month of July, compared with July 1999. "In NSW, there has been a steady trend upwards in road deaths all year, with 368 people killed since the beginning of the year, an 8% increase," Boswell says. "The fatality numbers are sending us a message that we, as a community must heed. "All of us must take responsibility for safe road practices if we are going to halt the upward drift in the road toll (in NSW)," he says. Boswell also warns all road users to be aware in coming months of the huge influx of international tourists for the Olympics. International pedestrians and drivers are especially at risk if they originate from nations with right hand drive, he says. "Pedestrians step off the footpath and instinctively look the wrong way for traffic and international motorists who are disoriented can turn the wrong way into traffic." Figures for other states for January to July this year, with January to July 1999 in brackets are: Fatal road crashes involving buses and coaches