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As part of The Examiner’s new road safety campaign – Stop. Think. Drive – crime reporter MELISSA MOBBS sat down with Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson to discuss what the Tasmanian government is doing to improve the state’s roads, and help reduce the devastating road toll. MM: We have had another horrific year on our roads, and it seems we are repeating the same messages every single year about road safety. We have just had the launch of the latest road safety action plan this year, so what is the state government going to do differently to ensure history does not keep repeating itself? MF: We are reminding the community of the shared responsibility, it’s not just about Tasmania Police enforcing behaviour on the roads, it is the responsibility of the person behind the wheel, we have to reinforce the same messages because it’s the same risk factors that are contributing to crashes, deaths and serious casualties. We all know infrastructure can and should be improved, but the reason people are dying on our roads are largely avoidable because of human behaviour. I am spending more time now encouraging the passengers in the car to take their power, and their responsibility seriously and more or less to instruct the driver “no I am not prepared for you to drive that fast or while you are using your mobile phone”. I believe that is part of the community answer. It can’t be just about the police, because they can’t be everywhere. In response to the recent increase in road deaths, I’ve increased road safety awareness advertising by 40 per cent this month. This will boost the reach of the road safety messages, with increased print, radio and social media advertising. It is estimated the additional spend across radio and print will reach 60 per cent of Tasmanian adults, each viewing an ad twice. It’s in addition to billboard advertising, digital advertising such as YouTube and Spotify, and television and cinema advertisements. A new anti-drink-driving campaign targeted at young drivers will be launched next month, and the next stage of the anti-mobile phone use campaign will be released later this year. Under our Towards Zero Action Plan, we are committing more than $75 million in road safety over the next five years. MM: There are plenty of success stories not only interstate, but internationally. In particular, during COVID, nearly all Australian states saw a drop in road crashes – Tassie was not one of them. Have we invested in studies of success stories from other states or countries so we can mirror those actions? MF: We actually have seen a downward trend in serious crashes in Tasmania, in fact if you look at the trajectory since the 70s it has been a positive story for the whole country, but in the last year Tasmania and Queensland defied the other states’ trends, which were significantly down, which seemed obvious because so many less people were moving around their community in their cars. Tasmania saw a small percentage increase in the number of serious casualties and Queensland saw a massive increase, so that’s of concern to us and I was out the other week reinforcing the importance of not just the infrastructure improvements like the investments we are making to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, but also ramming home those messages about the Fatal Five. We will continue to work with our interstate colleagues to try to understand if there is any evidences that we should learn from. I can tell you it’s unfortunately the case that in Tasmania this calendar year we have had a smaller number of total crashes, but those crashes that we have had have been more serious and we have seen less traffic significantly, because that is recorded by state growth, and yet that hasn’t translated into less fatalities, in fact we are up. To me, it again comes back to the importance of evidence to tell us where we are going well and evidence to tell us where we need to improve. In other news: MM: When it comes to responsibility, a significantly higher number of roads fall under local government, as opposed to the state government. The state government seems to be actively involved in road safety and improving road infrastructure, so is there open communication with local governments encouraging the same proactive approach? MF: Absolutely, in fact all road owners and managers have a good rapport and a good relationship and I’ve been working to strengthen that and to encourage local government to not see it as them and us, to be working with state growth as much as possible so we can identify sections of road, including those the government does not own, that could be improved and to support councils as significant road owners with opportunities like federal black spot funding. Importantly as well, to help them judge good road design when they are building new infrastructure. MM: Just moving away from infrastructure, and assuming you have a view on this given your background as a former police minister, are we doing enough to deter drivers? Speeding is just one example of bad driver behaviour, and speed camera technology is something that is addressed in the latest road safety action plan, with other states reporting a significant reduction in road fatalities when using speed cameras effectively. Should we be considering mobile speed cameras in Tasmania? MF: I want to make a really strong point that I’m not one bit interested in revenue raising, but I am interested in the small number of people who continue to do the wrong thing and put the rest of the community at risk, and I do think that technology should assist us in finding them and punish them. So yes we are considering technology. MM: The action plan also talks about strategies for addressing inattention and distraction, when will we implement speed camera technology that also detects mobile phone use, given this technology is already used interstate and mobile phone use remains a significant contributor to serious crashes? MF: The smart technology available now, that we are looking at, is not just about one particular offence, it is able to identify drivers who are doing a range of risky things, including driving unregistered vehicles, driving too fast, or going through a red light. And there are cameras that have been trialled in New South Wales that I am following up on that are mobile, and what I mean by that is they can be moved from place to place, and they can detect somebody using a mobile phone in their car. MM: Beyond the technology, fines and penalties have also been increased interstate. Queensland is one example where the fine for mobile phone use has more than doubled to $1000. Do you agree with their approach? Queensland have decided to step out and make using your mobile phone in a car a much higher financial penalty than in the past and also much higher than some very fast speeding offences, and I don’t think it’s necessarily working for them, just look at their latest statistics. I am open to the evidence on it, but Queensland have done this as a policy decision by the government, and it actually makes it look as though the financial penalty for using your mobile phone is so high it seems out of step with the other offences that maybe are just as dangerous and I’m just not sure it’s necessarily targeting the attitude of the person behind the wheel, but I’m open to seeing how Queensland go with it. Isn’t it true though that everybody knows you can’t use your mobile phone while driving, yet people do. So I want to target the attitude. MM: Speed limits are another heavily debated topic, and while I understand the Transport Commissioner is responsible for speed setting, do you have a view on reducing limits on roads based on conditions, rather than a blanket reduction? A good example would be the reduction on the Southern Outlet from 110 to 90 after a significant number of crashes. MF: I am on the record supporting the decision of the Transport Commissioner in relation to the Southern Outlet, it is a good example of where blank speed reductions are not the answer, but rather it is reasonable to assess the road, it’s performance, and it’s crash history and then set a speed that’s appropriate and in some cases that may mean allowing the speed limit to go up as well. So I am a big supporter of an individual piece of road being assessed on its individual merits rather than a blanket speed reduction which some other politicians have promoted in the past. MM: If we can just talk specifically about drivers in the North, recidivist drink driving has been a critical issue statewide for generations, but more recently, we have seen a spike in high-range offences across Launceston, which presents a huge risk for other road users. I understand this may be more of a question for the Attorney General, but how can we curb this behaviour more broadly, should we look at legislative change? MF: No I think the law is absolutely spot on where it is and I’m always open to it being changed, but only if it was going to make it harsher penalties. We have very harsh penalties now and yet the small minority of people are still acting in this way. The law is not the problem it’s the behaviour and it’s the belief by these individuals that they’re more important than everyone else on the road. Im highly energised on this subject because I lost an uncle to drink driving, and I’m absolutely determined that we drive home the message. We have to take people off the road if they are prepared to take those risks and flout the law. So I’m all for tougher penalties, but this group of people no matter what the penalty is they have shown that they just don’t care, so we’ve just got to take them off the road. And finally, you recently announced Graduated Licensing System changes – how will they improve safety? MF: There are a number of benefits to these changes, which will come into effect in December. They will help young drivers be safer, have less visits to Service Tasmania and save them $189 with our safe driver reward incentive. The changes ensure novice drivers have enough practical time behind the wheel, while introducing peer passenger restrictions, a new hazard perception test and a total ban on mobile phone use for all learners and P1 drivers. In addition, P2 licence holders will display green P plates to ensure Tasmania Police can identify these drivers who are required to have zero blood alcohol content. Complete this survey to have your say:
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As part of The Examiner’s new road safety campaign – Stop. Think. Drive – crime reporter MELISSA MOBBS sat down with Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson to discuss what the Tasmanian government is doing to improve the state’s roads, and help reduce the devastating road toll.
MM: We have had another horrific year on our roads, and it seems we are repeating the same messages every single year about road safety. We have just had the launch of the latest road safety action plan this year, so what is the state government going to do differently to ensure history does not keep repeating itself?
MF: We are reminding the community of the shared responsibility, it’s not just about Tasmania Police enforcing behaviour on the roads, it is the responsibility of the person behind the wheel, we have to reinforce the same messages because it’s the same risk factors that are contributing to crashes, deaths and serious casualties. We all know infrastructure can and should be improved, but the reason people are dying on our roads are largely avoidable because of human behaviour.
I am spending more time now encouraging the passengers in the car to take their power, and their responsibility seriously and more or less to instruct the driver “no I am not prepared for you to drive that fast or while you are using your mobile phone”. I believe that is part of the community answer. It can’t be just about the police, because they can’t be everywhere.
In response to the recent increase in road deaths, I’ve increased road safety awareness advertising by 40 per cent this month.This will boost the reach of the road safety messages, with increased print, radio and social media advertising. It is estimated the additional spend across radio and print will reach 60 per cent of Tasmanian adults, each viewing an ad twice. It’s in addition to billboard advertising, digital advertising such as YouTube and Spotify, and television and cinema advertisements.
A new anti-drink-driving campaign targeted at young drivers will be launched next month, and the next stage of the anti-mobile phone use campaign will be released later this year.
Under our Towards Zero Action Plan, we are committing more than $75 million in road safety over the next five years.
MM: There are plenty of success stories not only interstate, but internationally. In particular, during COVID, nearly all Australian states saw a drop in road crashes – Tassie was not one of them. Have we invested in studies of success stories from other states or countries so we can mirror those actions?
MF: We actually have seen a downward trend in serious crashes in Tasmania, in fact if you look at the trajectory since the 70s it has been a positive story for the whole country, but in the last year Tasmania and Queensland defied the other states’ trends, which were significantly down, which seemed obvious because so many less people were moving around their community in their cars. Tasmania saw a small percentage increase in the number of serious casualties and Queensland saw a massive increase, so that’s of concern to us and I was out the other week reinforcing the importance of not just the infrastructure improvements like the investments we are making to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, but also ramming home those messages about the Fatal Five. We will continue to work with our interstate colleagues to try to understand if there is any evidences that we should learn from.
I can tell you it’s unfortunately the case that in Tasmania this calendar year we have had a smaller number of total crashes, but those crashes that we have had have been more serious and we have seen less traffic significantly, because that is recorded by state growth, and yet that hasn’t translated into less fatalities, in fact we are up. To me, it again comes back to the importance of evidence to tell us where we are going well and evidence to tell us where we need to improve.
MM: When it comes to responsibility, a significantly higher number of roads fall under local government, as opposed to the state government. The state government seems to be actively involved in road safety and improving road infrastructure, so is there open communication with local governments encouraging the same proactive approach?
MF: Absolutely, in fact all road owners and managers have a good rapport and a good relationship and I’ve been working to strengthen that and to encourage local government to not see it as them and us, to be working with state growth as much as possible so we can identify sections of road, including those the government does not own, that could be improved and to support councils as significant road owners with opportunities like federal black spot funding. Importantly as well, to help them judge good road design when they are building new infrastructure.
MM: Just moving away from infrastructure, and assuming you have a view on this given your background as a former police minister, are we doing enough to deter drivers? Speeding is just one example of bad driver behaviour, and speed camera technology is something that is addressed in the latest road safety action plan, with other states reporting a significant reduction in road fatalities when using speed cameras effectively.
Should we be considering mobile speed cameras in Tasmania?
MF: I want to make a really strong point that I’m not one bit interested in revenue raising, but I am interested in the small number of people who continue to do the wrong thing and put the rest of the community at risk, and I do think that technology should assist us in finding them and punish them. So yes we are considering technology.
MM: The action plan also talks about strategies for addressing inattention and distraction, when will we implement speed camera technology that also detects mobile phone use, given this technology is already used interstate and mobile phone use remains a significant contributor to serious crashes?
MF: The smart technology available now, that we are looking at, is not just about one particular offence, it is able to identify drivers who are doing a range of risky things, including driving unregistered vehicles, driving too fast, or going through a red light.
And there are cameras that have been trialled in New South Wales that I am following up on that are mobile, and what I mean by that is they can be moved from place to place, and they can detect somebody using a mobile phone in their car.
MM: Beyond the technology, fines and penalties have also been increased interstate. Queensland is one example where the fine for mobile phone use has more than doubled to $1000. Do you agree with their approach?
Queensland have decided to step out and make using your mobile phone in a car a much higher financial penalty than in the past and also much higher than some very fast speeding offences, and I don’t think it’s necessarily working for them, just look at their latest statistics. I am open to the evidence on it, but Queensland have done this as a policy decision by the government, and it actually makes it look as though the financial penalty for using your mobile phone is so high it seems out of step with the other offences that maybe are just as dangerous and I’m just not sure it’s necessarily targeting the attitude of the person behind the wheel, but I’m open to seeing how Queensland go with it.
Isn’t it true though that everybody knows you can’t use your mobile phone while driving, yet people do. So I want to target the attitude.
MM: Speed limits are another heavily debated topic, and while I understand the Transport Commissioner is responsible for speed setting, do you have a view on reducing limits on roads based on conditions, rather than a blanket reduction? A good example would be the reduction on the Southern Outlet from 110 to 90 after a significant number of crashes.
MF: I am on the record supporting the decision of the Transport Commissioner in relation to the Southern Outlet, it is a good example of where blank speed reductions are not the answer, but rather it is reasonable to assess the road, it’s performance, and it’s crash history and then set a speed that’s appropriate and in some cases that may mean allowing the speed limit to go up as well. So I am a big supporter of an individual piece of road being assessed on its individual merits rather than a blanket speed reduction which some other politicians have promoted in the past.
MM: If we can just talk specifically about drivers in the North, recidivist drink driving has been a critical issue statewide for generations, but more recently, we have seen a spike in high-range offences across Launceston, which presents a huge risk for other road users. I understand this may be more of a question for the Attorney General, but how can we curb this behaviour more broadly, should we look at legislative change?
MF: No I think the law is absolutely spot on where it is and I’m always open to it being changed, but only if it was going to make it harsher penalties. We have very harsh penalties now and yet the small minority of people are still acting in this way. The law is not the problem it’s the behaviour and it’s the belief by these individuals that they’re more important than everyone else on the road.
Im highly energised on this subject because I lost an uncle to drink driving, and I’m absolutely determined that we drive home the message. We have to take people off the road if they are prepared to take those risks and flout the law. So I’m all for tougher penalties, but this group of people no matter what the penalty is they have shown that they just don’t care, so we’ve just got to take them off the road.
And finally, you recently announced Graduated Licensing Systemchanges – how will they improve safety?
MF: There are a number of benefits to these changes, which will come into effect in December. They will help young drivers be safer, have less visits to Service Tasmania and save them $189 with our safe driver reward incentive.
The changes ensure novice drivers have enough practical time behind the wheel, while introducing peer passenger restrictions, a new hazard perception test and a total ban on mobile phone use for all learners and P1 drivers.
In addition, P2 licence holders will display green P plates to ensure Tasmania Police can identify these drivers who are required to have zero blood alcohol content.
Complete this survey to have your say:
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