What the hell is happening on our roads?

[Gough]

The road toll this year seems to be off the scale and nobody can quite work out why. Are people driving more aggressively, are people more impatient or is it just a crook year?

 

[Power Raid]

The road toll this year seems to be off the scale and nobody can quite work out why. Are people driving more aggressively, are people more impatient or is it just a crook year?

is that compared to recent covid years or a longer trend?

 

[mr bagcroft]

My guess- phones.

 

[Saint]

COVID trended crashes down, much less travel going on.

Now travel patterns are returning to normal and it's reverting to the long-term trend. Also cars have plateaued at getting safer as people are buying fewer new cars waiting for affordable electric vehicles, driving their current ICE vehicle into the ground.

 

[Hank Scorpion]

I've no evidence to back it up, but the number of needlessly large Yank Tanks on the roads these days can't be making things any better.

Whatever the safety features, having an even bigger mass of steel moving around isn't going to help anyone that gets hit.

 

[Quivorir]

Is there a breakdown of the deaths anywhere? Like can I see the cause? Speeding/medical episode/stupidity etc? Based of what I see on the news a lot of these accidents are speed related. Cars getting faster and faster, safer and safer so people are pushing the limit. I see it every day. I drive the speed limit +2kms and still get people overtaking me and disappearing into the distance.

The problem, in my uneducated opinion is all these advancements in cars, but the roads are in the worst state I have ever seen them in. In my area for example rather than fix the roads the just drop the speed limit every couple of years. This no doubt angers people and they ignore the speed limit.

 

[Richard Cranium]

2 minutes of research suggests that nothing is really happening. Numbers were down during covid, now they've bounced back.

But I'm sure tik tok and rap music secretly have something to do with it.

 

[Nothing]

2 minutes of research suggests that nothing is really happening. Numbers were down during covid, now they've bounced back.

But I'm sure tik tok and rap music secretly have something to do with it.

I thought it was heavy metal that was the issue.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I thought it was heavy metal that was the issue.

Probably also overlooking the increase in red cars on the roads these days. Faster cars = more crashes.

 

[peternorth]

People working from home but actually on the roads running errands

 

[burge13]

COVID trended crashes down, much less travel going on.

Now travel patterns are returning to normal and it's reverting to the long-term trend. Also cars have plateaued at getting safer as people are buying fewer new cars waiting for affordable electric vehicles, driving their current ICE vehicle into the ground.

Cost of living rather than climate will be the issue for most...

 

[burge13]

Did a new GTA come out late last year?

 

[The Dice Man]

It's probably all the booster



































seats for babies.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Doing 130 on a country road filming it and thinking it’s cool
Wtf?

 

[mr bagcroft]

Doing 130 on a country road filming it and thinking it’s cool
Wtf?

was the 31 year old driving ? If so even more perplexing.

 

[Dazb86]

I blame the fast and furious movies. Please cancel them

 

[PoppedCorn]

was the 31 year old driving ? If so even more perplexing.

Saw a snip on the news early this morn and they said they hadnt determined that yet
Maybe no seatbelts on?
Not sure Mr B as i havent seen any news since then.

 

[revo333]

I've no evidence to back it up, but the number of needlessly large Yank Tanks on the roads these days can't be making things any better.

Nightmare driving in the dark and you get one of these on your tail with the lights blinding you from seeing what's in front.

The normal beams seem to be more powerful then the high beams on normal cars.

 

[mr bagcroft]

Nightmare driving in the dark and you get one of these on your tail with the lights blinding you from seeing what's in front.

The normal beams seem to be more powerful then the high beams on normal cars.

Also represents the driver behind you having a smaller than average penis, and higher than normal intake of VB.

 

[Power Raid]

Nightmare driving in the dark and you get one of these on your tail with the lights blinding you from seeing what's in front.

The normal beams seem to be more powerful then the high beams on normal cars.

the rear vision mirror has a function to alleviate that

 

[the_interloper]

People working from home but actually on the roads running errands

I feel like my local area has some pretty average driverd so you could be right.

 

[Rotayjay]

In my view, based on my observation rather than hard evidence, there has been a proliferation of:

- Motorists using their phones while driving

- Motorists entering space without any real regard as to whether someone is coming

When stopped in traffic and I happen to glance at the driver behind in the rearview mirror, I would say they are looking at their lap at least a quarter of the time, maybe half. Ironically, stationary is the time when you're most likely to get caught doing that, but the least dangerous time.

Yes those overhead cameras are coming in, but they're few and far between. People can generally get away with using their phone while at speed.

If you go to the Youtube channel Dash Cam Owners Australia, it seems the single biggest cause of crashes shown is people simply pulling out or pulling into another lane without checking if it's safe, or running a red light. They are both basically the same thing: putting you and your car in a spot without any regard for whether you will hit someone else in that spot.

What's changed? Inflation? Stress? Smartphones are more popular than ever?

 

[Rotayjay]

the rear vision mirror has a function to alleviate that

I love the trusty night glare tab at the bottom of the mirror.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Nightmare driving in the dark and you get one of these on your tail with the lights blinding you from seeing what's in front.

The normal beams seem to be more powerful then the high beams on normal cars.

Giant jacked up city driving 4wd normal headlights shining straight in normal height cars wind screens
Ban all of em

 

[JyeDye]

Because half the population is below average intelligence, yet 90% of us have driver's licences.