Regulation and Investigation Agencies in Road Domain of Australia
Rules have been developed to govern roads, not only for passengers and drivers but also the general public as well. These rules have been categorized according to departments such as the registration of licenses, public and private vehicles and generally the road transport so as to ensure smooth running of the road domain. In police crash investigation, the role of the crash investigation officer is establishing criminal negligence (Motorcycle Council of NSW, 2018). The National Transport Commission is working hand in hand with the Australian government to ensure that there are cohesive legislations that can be used to govern road users. There are also various acts that have been used in governing this sector such as the Road Rules 2014 and Road Transport Act, The Road Transport Act 1999, Traffic Act 2010 and The Australian Road Rules and Road Traffic Act 1961 (Elnasri, 2014).
It is well known that for any industry to thrive, it must involve technology. The National Transport Commission is working cohesively with the National Government to ensure that new revolutions take place in the road domain. Recently, in November 2016, the Australian ministers came up with the reformed idea of legalizing the use of automated vehicles before 2020. This has alerted other countries of this new technology and they are hoping to soon benchmark with Australia. There has also been introduction of tracking devices that can track speed as well as detect whether a driver is intoxicated. There are also sensors and cameras that have been installed in roads that monitor traffic (He, Yin and Zhou, 2013).
Very many groups in Australia are working hard to ensure that their cities develop in terms of infrastructure. It has been proposed that the operation of roads should not only focus on cyclists, pedestrians and drivers, but also focus on bringing social and public health services to people. It should also help in commercial transactions, such as transport of goods and services from one area to another. The main operators of this domain are private vehicles, taxis, emergency services such as ambulances, public vehicles, driving schools, recreational vehicles and many more(Hare et al., 2014).
Globally, roads have been known to be a major cause of fatal accidents. Studies have shown that some of the risks involved in this domain are as a result of construction. This is whereby Engineers and Contractors fail to follow the proposed guidelines in constructing, such as using the right materials, accommodating cyclists and passengers in the construction and many more. According to a report by Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) (2017), NSW truck deaths had increased by more than 86% in one year and the police have linked that to the increased number of heavy traffic connected to major construction projects. Some drivers also pose a huge risk on the roads through reckless driving. They also fail to follow the rules and regulations such as ‘do not drink and drive’. They also fall short in adhering to the speed limits and thus causing accidents. Also, failing to properly maintain one’s car could also pose a huge risk since even the minute defaults could cause road accidents (Voumard et al., 2013). Motor vehicles have been identified to be a hazard in the child pedestrian industry (Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), 2011).
Key Definitions that Define Accident Reporting in the Domain and How They are Reported
There are agencies that have been set aside for purposes of regulating and investigating in the road domain in Australia. Examples of these agencies are: (Australia.gov.au, 2018):
- National Heavy Vehicle Regulation – This agency helps in ensuring trucks and any other heavy vehicles follow the prescribed rules and regulations.
- Passenger Transport Authority – This body ensures that passengers’ rights are not infringed and all public vehicles follow the prescribed guidelines.
A review has been done on accident reporting and there are new guidelines on how accident reporting should be done. The first step of reporting an accident is recording the time the accident took place, including the day and date. After that, one should record the place where the accident took place, narrowing to specifics such as the highway or the street, the outskirts in which it took place. Thereafter, one should take note of the type of collision that took place and information of the people and cars involved. One should be able to sketch a diagram of the collision and briefly describing it without blaming any of the parties involved in the accident. Subsequently, one should take note of the environmental conditions such as the atmospheric weather and the type of road. They should also jot down the traffic control involved and figure out the movements and intentions of the driver before the accident and finally write down the level of damage (Horyniak et al., 2017).
There are various guidelines that have been outlined to govern this domain. The procedures set out in Australia include driving requirement. Under this, one must have a driving license and must be also fit enough to drive. There are also set out vehicle requirements whereby each vehicle must be road worthy to be on the road. Traffic signals have been provided in order to control the operations of vehicles on the roads. Apart from that there are also operational requirements that have been highlighted by the Australian International Standards (Australia.com. 2018).
The first step involves ensuring that the correct procedures are followed by the Superintendent of traffic. They should first be able to determine whether it is of public interest to prosecute the wrongdoers in the accident or not, and if so they should identify the offence and look for enough evidence. Thereafter, the investigators should start caring for injured persons and also protect the scene from the public. Movements of the vehicles should only take place when there are people trapped and cannot be treated, when they are trapped next to a burning material or when there is immediate hazard to oncoming traffic. Photographs should be taken as evidence of an accident that occurred. The drivers and any witnesses should record their statements with the police. The investigators should also do a drugs and substance test to know whether the drivers were under any influence. The police should properly inspect the vehicles so as to support any statements made and basically find out what caused the accident. There are also investigations done on heavy vehicles that involve providing detailed inspections, finding out whether the driver was fatigued and also taking details of the driver’s logbook (Australian Road Deaths Database, 2018).
The investigation of deaths accidents in Australia is calculated annually per 100,000 population. As at 2016, for example, Australia had a death rate of 5.34 (Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), 2018). A report by Monash University Accident Research Centre Report Document Page recommends that to improve the data collection methods, the domain must use the hospital emergency department data, use the general practitioner sampling, use injury surveillance system data to follow those who get injured but do not go to hospitals and to link to road crash databases (Ozanne-Smith & Haworth, 2018).
References
Australia.com. (2018). Road safety in Australia – Tourism Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.australia.com/en/facts-and-planning/useful-tips/road-safety-in-australia.html [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].
Australia.gov.au. (2018). Roads and road transport | australia.gov.au. [online] Available at: https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/transport-and-regional/roads-and-road-transport [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].
Australian Road Deaths Database (2018). Australian Road Deaths Database. [online] Bitre.gov.au. Available at: https://bitre.gov.au/statistics/safety/fatal_road_crash_database.aspx [Accessed 23 Sep. 2018].
Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), 2011. Child Pedestrian Safety:“Driveway Deaths” and “Low-Speed Vehicle Run-Overs,” Australia, 2001-10. Available at https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/is_043.aspx [Accessed 23 Sep. 2018].
Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), 2018. International Road Safety Comparisons—Annual. Available at https://bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/international_road_safety_comparisons.aspx [Accessed 23 Sep. 2018].
Elnasri, A. (2014). Efficiency of Infrastructure Provision: Australia, States and Territories. SSRN Electronic Journal. 10.2139/ssrn.2432804
Hare, W., Hossain, S., Lucet, Y. and Rahman, F. (2014). Models and strategies for efficiently determining an optimal vertical alignment of roads. Computers & Operations Research, 44, pp.161-173. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2013.11.005
He, F., Yin, Y. and Zhou, J. (2013). Integrated pricing of roads and electricity enabled by wireless power transfer. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 34, pp.1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.trc.2013.05.005
Horyniak, D., Dietze, P., Lenton, S., Alati, R., Bruno, R., Matthews, A., Breen, C. and Burns, L. (2017). Trends in reports of driving following illicit drug consumption among regular drug users in Australia, 2007–2013: Has random roadside drug testing had a deterrent effect?. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 104, pp.146-155.
Motorcycle Council of NSW (2018). Crash Investigation – Motorcycle Council of NSW – Road Safety. [online] Roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au. Available at: https://roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/44.html [Accessed 23 Sep. 2018].
Ozanne-Smith, J. and Haworth, N., 2018. Development of data collection methodology: Crashes resulting in hospitalisation and casualty crashes not resulting in hospitalisation. Available at https://infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/1993/pdf/Stat_Method_4.pdf [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].
Voumard, J., Caspar, O., Derron, M. and Jaboyedoff, M. (2013).Dynamic risk simulation to assess risk along roads. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 1(2), pp.1285-1317. 10.5194/nhessd-1-1285-2013
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
