I missed this story late last year after Jerome Carslake, Director of the National Road Safety Partnership Program, Monash University Accident Research Centre, appeared on the Drive podcast.
Carslake provided some frightening statistics that should make every Fleet Manager review their Fit-for-Purpose evaluation process every time they need to replace a dual-cab utility.
After the usual preamble, the presenter asked about the increasing size of cars on the roads after there was a call to increase the size of parking spaces to accommodate the trend of using utes as family cars.
Carslake explained that when something big hits you as a pedestrian or vulnerable road user, there’s a high chance of injury. And the larger the car, the more risk of death or serious injury.
“The risk of death and serious injuries posed by utes compared to a medium car is 30 per cent higher when in a collision, and with the average increase in car size on our road, this poses a threat to pedestrians if they’re struck by these large vehicles,” said Carslake.
“The death toll has risen five per cent purely from people choosing to buy 4WDs, utes and large SUVs, showing that just from the size, the risk increases.”
Jerome Carslake, Director of the National Road Safety Partnership Program
“There needs to be more emphasis on the shared responsibility of road safety, and how the choices in vehicles purchased or actions behind the wheel contribute to the issues we face driving.”
“For people to get home safe, they need everyone to be safe around them using the road.”
The NRSPP can help Fleet Managers and organisations that are managing vehicles as a workplace to keep employees safe. On the website there are lots of free resources that can be used to increase awareness of road safety and educate employees to support the implementation of a fleet safety policy.
