18 May 2011

Fatal in Fyshwick

| johnboy
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A 73-year-old Griffith man died in The Canberra Hospital overnight following a collision in Fyshwick last Friday (13 May).

About 12.40pm the man was driving a blue Nissan Pulsar sedan under the Monaro Highway overpass heading towards the intersection of Canberra Avenue and the Monaro Highway, when he collided with another vehicle prior to impacting with a light pole.

The man was transported by ACT Ambulance to The Canberra Hospital. On admittance his condition deteriorated and he went into a coma.

The Collision Investigation and Reconstruction Team is requesting that any witnesses to the incident who have not yet spoken with police should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers website on www.act.crimestoppers.com.au.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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Mysteryman said :

fgzk said :

Gerry-Built said :

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

What? because a couple of them died on our roads in the last few weeks? That hardly seems fair to the other ~99%, who seem to drive safe enough (albeit s-l-o-w-l-y)! 73 necessarily “old”, though that can be dependent on the individual… I think a person’s Doctor can freeze their license after a particular age if their are concerns that their health impacts their ability to drive safely.

troll-sniffer said :

Yep, them speed cameras sure are doing the job as promised.

As long as speed cameras work to provide additional revenue from speeding motorists, I have no issue with them; whether the improve safety or not… Anyone who has been caught by one, deserved to be caught – even if just by “oversight”. Anybody caught more than a few times is just a plain stupid driver. Maybe they are the ones that require regular testing…

Actually a lot of elderly people die on our roads each year in the ACT. More than pot smokers. Elderly people might also have their own legal prescriptions that affect driving. If the new laws are accepted to be fair and safe, I see no reason why the elderly should not be the next target in reducing our road toll. All it would take is a law allowing a police officer to have an opinion that the elderly person is old.

I emailed Stanhopeless a few years ago upon hearing news of his plan to install point-to-point speed cameras and his justification that they “save lives”. I took a look through the ABS stats from the 5-10 years leading up to 2008/09 (when I sent the email) and it appeared that somewhere between 25-50% of fatalities on ACT roads were elderly people (older than 70yrs) in which speed played no significant part in the accident.

Maybe a petition would be in order. People would gladly support an initiative that could cut our road toll by a quarter to half. Maybe we need to plead with our law makers to save our lives.

fgzk said :

Gerry-Built said :

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

What? because a couple of them died on our roads in the last few weeks? That hardly seems fair to the other ~99%, who seem to drive safe enough (albeit s-l-o-w-l-y)! 73 necessarily “old”, though that can be dependent on the individual… I think a person’s Doctor can freeze their license after a particular age if their are concerns that their health impacts their ability to drive safely.

troll-sniffer said :

Yep, them speed cameras sure are doing the job as promised.

As long as speed cameras work to provide additional revenue from speeding motorists, I have no issue with them; whether the improve safety or not… Anyone who has been caught by one, deserved to be caught – even if just by “oversight”. Anybody caught more than a few times is just a plain stupid driver. Maybe they are the ones that require regular testing…

Actually a lot of elderly people die on our roads each year in the ACT. More than pot smokers. Elderly people might also have their own legal prescriptions that affect driving. If the new laws are accepted to be fair and safe, I see no reason why the elderly should not be the next target in reducing our road toll. All it would take is a law allowing a police officer to have an opinion that the elderly person is old.

I emailed Stanhopeless a few years ago upon hearing news of his plan to install point-to-point speed cameras and his justification that they “save lives”. I took a look through the ABS stats from the 5-10 years leading up to 2008/09 (when I sent the email) and it appeared that somewhere between 25-50% of fatalities on ACT roads were elderly people (older than 70yrs) in which speed played no significant part in the accident.

Troll-sniffer I don’t think speed cameras work very well but I don’t see the problem if they are used. If the revenue from speed cameras is directly attributable to the cost of monitoring and extra police on the streets, to pick up all of the other types of offences, then there should be more of them. It is funny too watching drivers overtake me at speed and then overcompensate and slow down too much when they know of or see a camera.

As for older drivers, if there are stats out there that suggest they are a risk then there should be stiffer rules and regular testing. As I understand it, all they need at the moment is a friendly neighbourhood Dr to sign off annually that they are OK to drive. I think that their eye test in the Drs surgery is even easier than the one that the rest of us go through at the shop front. After reading the website, I’m not even sure that there is any requirement for them to be retested even if they have several driving offences or accidents. The emphasis seems to be on family and friends to persuade them that they should hand in their license – fat chance of that!

Holden Caulfield12:19 pm 19 May 11

EvanJames said :

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

Safe like P platers?

Haha, quite. That said, I reckon ALL drivers should be required to undergo regular licence re-testing; every 5 years for example.

The point being, the suggestion P-platers and older drivers are the only ones to do daft things on the road is just a bit of a misnomer.

Gerry-Built said :

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

What? because a couple of them died on our roads in the last few weeks? That hardly seems fair to the other ~99%, who seem to drive safe enough (albeit s-l-o-w-l-y)! 73 necessarily “old”, though that can be dependent on the individual… I think a person’s Doctor can freeze their license after a particular age if their are concerns that their health impacts their ability to drive safely.

troll-sniffer said :

Yep, them speed cameras sure are doing the job as promised.

As long as speed cameras work to provide additional revenue from speeding motorists, I have no issue with them; whether the improve safety or not… Anyone who has been caught by one, deserved to be caught – even if just by “oversight”. Anybody caught more than a few times is just a plain stupid driver. Maybe they are the ones that require regular testing…

Actually a lot of elderly people die on our roads each year in the ACT. More than pot smokers. Elderly people might also have their own legal prescriptions that affect driving. If the new laws are accepted to be fair and safe, I see no reason why the elderly should not be the next target in reducing our road toll. All it would take is a law allowing a police officer to have an opinion that the elderly person is old.

Gerry-Built said :

[As long as speed cameras work to provide additional revenue from speeding motorists, I have no issue with them; whether the improve safety or not… Anyone who has been caught by one, deserved to be caught – even if just by “oversight”. Anybody caught more than a few times is just a plain stupid driver. Maybe they are the ones that require regular testing…

Exactly. Just like the new drug driving laws.

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

What? because a couple of them died on our roads in the last few weeks? That hardly seems fair to the other ~99%, who seem to drive safe enough (albeit s-l-o-w-l-y)! 73 necessarily “old”, though that can be dependent on the individual… I think a person’s Doctor can freeze their license after a particular age if their are concerns that their health impacts their ability to drive safely.

troll-sniffer said :

Yep, them speed cameras sure are doing the job as promised.

As long as speed cameras work to provide additional revenue from speeding motorists, I have no issue with them; whether the improve safety or not… Anyone who has been caught by one, deserved to be caught – even if just by “oversight”. Anybody caught more than a few times is just a plain stupid driver. Maybe they are the ones that require regular testing…

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

Safe like P platers?

Anna Key said :

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

+1 for this. Older people really do need to have yearly chekcs to ensure that they can in fact manage a vehicle on the roads as well as updated medical records. A relative of ours, who is 86 years old, has had her licence (full licence) for over 60 years – yet never driven anywhere as her husband drives instead (he’s a spritly 91!). Both are okay – but again there needs to be a mandatory testing regime in place so that they are safe on the roads – for everyone’s sake.

Or maybe older people should be seriously tested for their ability to drive safely.

troll-sniffer said :

From the Crimes: “The death adds to what has been a bad year on ACT roads, with the road toll fast approaching the 18 fatalities recorded last year. Last year’s toll was the second worst recorded in the past decade.”

Yep, them speed cameras sure are doing the job as promised.

And now I await the inevitable bleats of the sheep who, because some ‘experts’ have convinced themselves and the pollies that speed cameras work as intended, will come on here and baaa baaa until the sun goes down.

Ironic that you’re the first to come a bleating.

troll-sniffer11:38 am 18 May 11

From the Crimes: “The death adds to what has been a bad year on ACT roads, with the road toll fast approaching the 18 fatalities recorded last year. Last year’s toll was the second worst recorded in the past decade.”

Yep, them speed cameras sure are doing the job as promised.

And now I await the inevitable bleats of the sheep who, because some ‘experts’ have convinced themselves and the pollies that speed cameras work as intended, will come on here and baaa baaa until the sun goes down.

The entire rationale behind speed cameras relies on simplistic one-sided modelling and completely avoids tackling the complexity of human psychology. Until the whole picture is included in the research and reasoning on which the revenue snappers are based, they will remain nothing more than a contemptuous easy fix that in reality don’t really fix.

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