Category Archives: Road safety

Regional roads in dire state as Australian councils made to waste money on grants tribute signs: report

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Grattan Institute says Australia’s regional roads are a ‘dangerous disgrace’ due to paltry federal funding

Regional Australian roads have become a “dangerous disgrace”, according to a new report that warns they will get worse due to paltry funding that favours cities and forces poorer regional councils to waste repair money erecting signs in tribute to government grants.

In a new report, the Grattan Institute has found that roads across the country have become riddled with potholes and other hazards because inadequate federal and state government funding has left councils under-resourced and without sufficient knowledge or data to maintain the roads they are responsible for.

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As the federal government prepares to scrap road and rail projects – find out what is being funded in your area

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The government is backing hundreds of infrastructure projects across Australia, however some may now be cancelled due to cost overruns

The Australian government has committed to hundreds of infrastructure projects around the country, mostly road and rail projects.

However, as many as 250 projects that have yet to begin construction may be scrapped or delayed as a cost-saving measure to pay for at least $33bn in cost overruns.

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Vehicle breakdowns due to potholes hit record level in 2023, says RAC

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Calls over pothole incidents hit 6,000 in usually benign summer months amid ‘substandard’ roads

Vehicle breakdowns caused by Britain’s pothole-ridden roads reached record levels this year, according to the RAC.

The motoring organisation said it received almost 6,000 calls for pothole-related incidents from July to September – its highest total for the relatively benign summer period since it started collecting data in 2006.

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CCTV footage shows two men fleeing scene of fatal Ashcroft crash in Sydney as manhunt continues

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Two boys, aged between 10 and 15, died after being thrown from a car which crashed on a suburban street on Monday morning

The hunt for two men who fled the scene of a car crash that killed two boys has entered its second day as officers piece together the events leading up to the tragedy.

Two boys died after being thrown from a car which crashed on a suburban street at Ashcroft, in Sydney’s south-west, about 10.50am on Monday.

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Lancashire county council criticised for not fixing pothole blamed for cyclist’s death

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Coroner says Harry Colledge, 84, would probably be alive if council had acted on warnings about 87-metre-long crack in the road

A council has been severely criticised by a coroner over the death of a cyclist who suffered fatal head injuries after hitting a pothole that had been visible on Google Street View for 14 years.

The Lancashire area coroner, Kate Bisset, concluded that Harry Colledge, 84, would probably not have died last January if Lancashire county council had acted on warnings to fix the 87-metre-long crack on Island Lane near the village of Winmarleigh.

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Rishi Sunak claims putting reducing inflation ahead of tax cuts Thatcherite and ‘deeply Conservative’ – UK politics live

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Prime minister says ‘the best tax cut we can give is to cut inflation’ after Michael Gove says taxes should be cut before general election

The BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is starting. As well as Rishi Sunak, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is also being interviewed.

Q: Do you still think we’ve had enough of experts?

Economic forecasting was invented to make astrology look respectable.

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‘No more lives lost’: Glasgow architects urge road changes after colleague’s cycling death

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Road infrastructure campaign has been launched in honour of designer Emma Burke Newman, who was killed in lorry collision

On the long and busy stretch of road where Glasgow’s riverside meets its city centre, hundreds of commuters and visitors travel into and out of town each day. Since January this year, many will have spotted a new addition to their route: a white “ghost bike”, adorned with flowers and messages, parked at a busy junction where 22-year-old French-American architecture student and experienced cyclist Emma Burke Newman was killed in a collision with a lorry, just six months after moving to the city.

Now, former colleagues at architectural firm New Practice, where she worked as a designer while studying at Glasgow School of Art, have launched a road infrastructure campaign in her honour. Focusing on three specific junctions along the riverside, including the one where Burke Newman lost her life, the Waiting To Happen campaign aims to gather data about road users’ experiences of these locations with a view to creating a set of possible improvements.

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Animal welfare groups criticise American XL bullies ban, saying they’re ‘deeply concerned’ about lack of evidence – UK politics live

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PM says breed, responsible for series of attacks, will be banned once it has been properly defined

Here is the full text of what Rishi Sunak said in his video statement about banning American XL bully dogs. (See 11.50am.)

The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.

I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.

It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.

I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe.

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NSW court ruling will make it almost impossible to contest drug-driving charges, legal experts claim

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Judge says decision involving a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine pivoted on presence of drug rather than his credibility

Legal experts have argued a New South Wales district court judgment will make it almost impossible for people facing drug-driving charges to defend themselves, no matter the circumstances.

The decision, handed down on 26 July, involved a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine at a roadside drug test.

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Australia’s road toll continues to rise with most states falling behind safety goals

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Victoria recorded the biggest increase in road deaths in the last year, followed by NSW

Australia’s road toll continues to rise with 37 additional lives lost in accidents compared to the previous 12 months, despite a nationwide target to halve road deaths by 2030.

The latest report into road deaths by the Australian Automobile Association found the greatest rises in fatal accidents were recorded in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia, and only one state or territory was on track to achieve national safety goals.

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France clamps down on dangerous drivers with new ‘road killing’ offence

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No tougher penalties announces for offence formerly known as involuntary homicide by a driver

The French government has announced a clampdown on people who drive while unfit, months after a crash involving a high-profile comedian accused of drug-driving.

The prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, announced the creation of a new offence, of causing a “road killing”, specifically aimed at those who are unfit to be behind the wheel.

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Death toll in Kenya road crash rises to 52

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Truck lost control at notorious junction in Londiani, hitting people and vehicles in latest road catastrophe

The death toll of a road crash in western Kenya rose to 52 on Saturday, officials said, as rescuers worked to clear the wreckage from one of the deadliest traffic accidents in the country in recent years.

A truck carrying a shipping container veered out of control and ploughed into multiple other vehicles and people thronging a busy roadside junction on Friday evening, plunging the nation into shock and mourning.

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Dozens dead in western India bus crash

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Bus was travelling on expressway to city of Pune when it hit a pole, overturned and caught fire

At least 25 people were killed and eight others injured after a bus caught fire on an expressway in western India, police said.

The bus was travelling to the city of Pune when it hit a pole and overturned in the early hours of Saturday, causing its diesel tank to catch fire, a senior police officer told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

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Boy died in bus collision after friend unlocked e-scooter, inquest told

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Family calls for more restrictions on underage access to electric scooters after Mustafa Nadeem was killed last December

A 12-year-old boy was killed while riding a hired Voi e-scooter unlocked by a 14-year-old friend using their father’s account, an inquest has heard, as his family called for stricter measures to prevent children using loopholes to access them.

Mustafa Nadeem suffered fatal injuries when he rode an e-scooter along the pavement and accidentally collided with a pedestrian causing him to fall on the road into the path of a bus in Birmingham on 6 December last year.

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Australia’s road death toll jumps with fatalities still higher than pre-pandemic

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National automotive body says poor data collection is limiting authorities’ ability to formulate an evidence-based response

Australian roads are becoming deadlier, with an almost 6% jump in road deaths in the past year as fatalities remain significantly higher than before the Covid pandemic and worse than long-term safety targets.

The latest road fatality figures, which cover the 12 months to 31 March, reveal 1,204 deaths on Australian roads – an annual increase of 5.9%.

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Russian diplomats in Australia refuse to pay $90,000 in traffic fines dating back 15 years

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Exclusive: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is chasing hundreds of overdue fines amid repeated requests to respect the law

Russian diplomats have refused to pay hundreds of overdue speeding, parking and traffic fines dating back more than 15 years, frustrating Australian officials who can only politely ask that they respect local laws.

Freedom of information documents obtained by Guardian Australia indicate the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) is chasing almost $90,000 from the Russian embassy for fines dating back to 2007, despite repeated requests for diplomats to respect the law.

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Rishi Sunak scraps plans for new smart motorways in England

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Fourteen smart motorways removed from government road-building plans over cost and safety fears

The building of new smart motorways is being cancelled as Rishi Sunak acknowledged concerns about safety and cost.

Fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from government road-building plans, given financial pressures and in recognition of the lack of public trust.

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Robert Jenrick banned from driving for six months for speeding

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Immigration minister fined more than £1,600 for breaking limit on M1 after appearing on Any Questions? last year

The government minister Robert Jenrick has been banned from driving for six months and fined more than £1,600 after being caught driving almost 30mph over the speed limit last year.

The Conservative MP for Newark was recorded driving 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone on the M1 in Northamptonshire on 5 August 2022. Jenrick pleaded guilty to the offence in February and said in a letter to the court that he “sincerely apologised” for the incident.

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UK mounted police chase down man holding mobile phone while driving

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Officers on horseback deployed to reduce use of phones by motorist; driver faces £200 fine and six points on licence

Two mounted police officers have chased down a man spotted holding his mobile phone while driving.

Officers on horses have been deployed across the UK in order to reduce the number of people using a phone while at the wheel. Avon and Somerset police are involved in the enforcement operation led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) over the next three weeks.

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‘Undermine our road safety’: promised rewards for ‘safe’ NSW drivers criticised by experts

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Labor and the Coalition promise to ease penalties for ‘low-level’ offences if they win the state election

Election promises by the New South Wales government and the Labor opposition to reward “safe” drivers have been met with scepticism by industry experts, with one accusing both sides of buying votes and failing to advance road safety.

The Coalition on Wednesday promised that drivers with a three-year clean driving record would be able to avoid fines for low-level offending, including low-range speeding, disobeying some signs and driving in a bus lane, if re-elected.

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