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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-11-17 Daily Xml
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Motions

National Road Safety Week

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. C Bonaros:

That this council—

1. Notes National Road Safety Week was hosted in Adelaide this year from 16 to 23 May;

2. Expresses its deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the 977 people who lost their lives on South Australian roads between 2011 and 2020;

3. Notes a further 7,391 people suffered serious injuries;

4. Also notes 576 of the 977 lives lost were on South Australian regional roads;

5. Further expresses its deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the 43 people killed on our roads so far this year;

6. Calls upon the state government to introduce tougher laws and penalties targeting dangerous drivers and high-risk behaviour, including drug driving and driving whilst disqualified, as a matter of urgency; and

7. Calls upon the state and federal governments to take immediate action to improve the condition and safety of our regional roads.

(Continued from 26 May 2021.)

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (22:54): I rise in support of this motion. Every death on our roads is a tragedy, not only for the direct victim who has their life cut short but for the victim's family and their friends, who miss out on precious time with their loved ones, and also for the first responders—the police, the ambos, the emergency workers—who have to attend road crashes and deal with the terrible aftermath and the trauma associated with it.

It is up to all of us to do all that we can to prevent road deaths and road trauma, especially as we know that almost all deaths on our roads are preventable and that for younger age groups it is one of the leading causes of death. That is why Labor has always taken a largely bipartisan approach to road safety. Notwithstanding our concerns about the government's approach in certain areas, we have supported every piece of legislation the government has brought to the parliament which both enhances road safety and punishes those people who would put the rest of us in danger. It is in this same spirit that we support the Hon. Connie Bonaros with her motion today.

Members will know that Labor has always been the party of road safety, and we have always had zero tolerance for stupid and dangerous behaviour on our roads. Reforms and improvements introduced and legislated by Labor governments include:

a new graduated licensing system for young drivers;

static and mobile driver testing for alcohol and drugs;

increased use of seatbelts and child restraints;

mandatory alcohol interlock program;

the introduction of a 50 km/h default speed limit in urban areas;

increased and better targeted enforcement with higher penalties;

a network of safety cameras at high-risk intersections;

point-to-point speed cameras in regional areas to enforce average speed limits over long distances;

Black Spot programs to improve sites with poor crash histories;

infrastructure safety programs, such as road shoulder sealing;

increased numbers of four and five-star safety rated vehicles that provide better protection for occupants; and

legislation to impound vehicles and crush the vehicles of hoon drivers.

In earlier terms of government, Labor reduced the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers from 0.08 to 0.05 and implemented a range of other safety measures. Although I have noted Labor's bipartisan approach to the pursuit of road safety, it must be said that there is more work to be done and some things that we wish had been more carefully considered by this government.

In its very first budget, the Marshall Liberal government abolished the Motor Accident Commission. The MAC provided important, independent, evidence-based advice to government on road safety policy. It was also responsible for award winning and highly effective targeted road safety campaigns and promotions, as well as facilitating funding for road safety programs in schools, in sports clubs and in the wider community.

In 2019, after 10 years of downward trend, there was a 42 per cent increase in the number of deaths on our roads from 2018, taking the road toll to its highest levels in a decade. In 2020, despite the significant reduction in traffic movement as a result of the COVID pandemic, there was still a 16 per cent increase on the 2018 figure. This year, we have seen a 13 per cent increase in road fatalities on the same time last year. These figures should be going down, but tragically they are going up.

On top of this, despite the growing numbers of motorcyclist deaths on our roads, the Liberal government delayed important reforms to motorcycle licensing and refused to reconvene the Motorcycle Reference Group, which was instrumental in driving reform under the previous government. Indeed, the motorcycling community became so disillusioned with the Liberal government that it sought the help of the opposition. We introduced our own motorcycle licensing reforms, only to see them languishing on the House of Assembly table for more than two years. It took the government nearly three years to act on expert recommendations and bring a bill to parliament, a bill which was supported by Labor and subsequently had swift passage through both houses.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleague in the other place the member for Elizabeth and shadow minister for police and road safety for his ongoing work in this important portfolio. Despite the failings of this government, Labor has offered bipartisan support where it can, and in some instances has led from opposition to ensure that we are doing all we can to reduce road deaths and road trauma in South Australia.

As I said, we have supported every piece of road safety legislation to come before us, including higher penalties and harsher punishments for excessive speed, dangerous and careless driving, and the insidious menace of drug and drink driving. We have a long way to go, and I am hopeful that we can learn from the mistakes of the last four years and once again see the trends reversed and see fewer and fewer horrific crashes on our roads.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (22:59): I wish to move an amendment to the motion, which has been agreed with the government, as follows:

Paragraph 6—delete 'introduce' and insert 'continue introducing'

Paragraph 7—delete 'take immediate action to improve' and insert 'continue improving'

Paragraphs 6 and 7 are to read:

6. Calls upon the state government to continue introducing tougher laws and penalties targeting dangerous drivers and high-risk behaviour, including drug driving and driving whilst disqualified, as a matter of urgency; and

7. Calls upon the state and federal governments to continue improving the condition and safety of our regional roads.

The PRESIDENT: Paragraph 6 appears to be exactly the same.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: No, we have changed three words.

The PRESIDENT: And the same with the other one.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (23:01): It is my pleasure on behalf of the government to indicate that we will be supporting this motion as amended. I certainly concur with the comments made by both the Hon. Connie Bonaros and the honourable Deputy Leader of the Opposition. There is a bipartisan commitment to bring down the road toll, and we as a government are committed to continuous improvement. We believe that the amendments moved by the Hon. Frank Pangallo reflect that shared commitment, and we support the amendment and the motion as amended.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (23:01): I rise to indicate that I am supportive of those amendments. I thank honourable members for their valuable contributions and acknowledge their contributions in terms of road safety.

I introduced this motion in May following National Road Safety Week. At the time, 43 lives had already been lost on our roads in 2021. Today, that number has reached 87—44 more lives have been lost since I introduced that motion. It is particularly heartbreaking that seven P-plate drivers have died on our roads this year. Males are consistently over-represented in the tolls—67 so far this year. Motorbike riders are consistently over-represented—16 so far this year, with one very sad and tragic death in recent weeks.

I might just mention that we are still waiting for improved novice rider training requirements on the back of our amendment to the GLS bill passed earlier this year. Consultation has been extremely slow to start; it has been eight months since the bill passed. We are frustrated this has not been a priority for the transport department, and I acknowledge that we continue to work on that issue with the minister, who gave various undertakings in this place and has been cooperative with us in terms of meeting those. I suggest that the department needs to take a much bigger lead than it has in terms of that process, because there are families who are waiting eagerly to see those changes implemented.

Drug drivers are another cohort we are extremely concerned about, like all members of parliament, and I am pleased the government has acted on our drug driving ILOL bill, which will give police the power to impose an instant loss of licence for a positive roadside drug test, as they do with drink driving. I am urging all members of this place to progress that bill swiftly.

With its passing in the lower house yesterday, I understand we may have the opportunity to do so this week or next. It will give police the power to remove drug drivers, hoon drivers and unlicensed drivers from our roads. As members have articulated, these are issues we are all very concerned about and need to address. They literally will result in the saving of lives, and with those words I thank honourable members for their support and contributions and commend this motion to the chamber.

Amendment carried; motion as amended carried.

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