Source: The Saturday Mercury, 20 February, 1999,
p.10 Source: The Saturday Mercury, 20 February, 1999,
p.10
Death day warning for work-weary motorists MOST road fatalities last year occurred on Fridays, says the Tas- mania's Road Safety Task Force. Friday replaced Sunday as being the most likely day for a fatal crash. Sundays accounted for 18.2% of all fatalities on Tasmania's roads from 1992 to 1997. Of the 48 fatalities last year, 10 people died on Fri- days (20.8%), nine on Satur- days and eight on Sundays. Tasmania's Road Safety Task Force chairman, Paul Hogan, said more than 56% of the road deaths during the year occurred over these three days. "We do not know conclus- ively why there is such a high number of fatalities between Friday and Sunday but we do suspect it has to do with tiredness," Mr Hogan said. "We are all pretty stressed by the end of the week and our concentration may have diminished by the time the weekend comes around. "Although on normal week- ends it is expected that there would be less cars on the roads than during the week the roads can be busy on weekends when there are special events on." Department of Transport manager of road safety Chris Smyth, said 72% of the fatal- ities last year occurred on rural roads. He said: "Rural roads can refer to either back country roads or the Midland Highway. "Although in previous years there have been more fatalities on Sundays, the numbers in Tasmania are so small that the fluctuations between days are not that significant. "Accidents are mainly caused by driver behaviour which many be influenced by three factors, speed, alcohol and inattention " The Road Safety Task Force warned motorists to take extra care on the road at the end of the week and during the weekend.
Where to next?
Student Questions for this article
Teacher Discussion of this article
Index - Inference