The impact of tailgating on the ACT community is the focus of a new road safety campaign launched by Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, today.
“Not only are rear-end collisions in the top three crashes for injuries, but the costs of these crashes impacts on the whole community through CTP premiums,” Mr Corbell said.
“Research shows that rear-end crashes are the cause of a significant number of soft tissue injuries such as whiplash, which can involve long recovery periods.
“This campaign is intended to raise awareness of the impact of tailgating and encourage drivers to slow down and provide a safe gap to the car in front.”
In 2013, there were 7,863 reported traffic crashes in the ACT, which involved 15,399 vehicles and resulted in 792 casualties, including seven fatalities and 140 hospital admissions. Just under half of all reported crashes were rear-end crashes, where tailgating is a major causal factor.
“Many drivers underestimate the distance required to stop a vehicle. When you take into account reaction time and braking distance, the stopping distance at a speed of 60km per hour is 56 metres. At 100km per hour the stopping distance increases to 127 metres,” Mr Corbell said.
“In the 2013/14 financial year, ACT Policing issued 104 Traffic Infringement Notices and 108 Cautions for tailgating, which also reinforces the need for messaging about the extent of tailgating and its impact on the ACT community.”
As part of the government’s approach to this issue, a new TV commercial will be broadcast throughout October on local commercial television stations to raise community awareness of this important road safety issue.
“Measures aimed at reducing the rate of rear end crashes are important – not only for reducing road trauma – but also to improve the culture on our roads as tailgating is very intimidating behaviour,” Mr Corbell said.
The 2013 ACT Crash Report and the new television commercial can be viewed online at: http://www.justice.act.gov.au/safety_and_emergency/road_safety.
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