Queensland Transport Minister Paul Lucas in the biggest cover up!

Again Road Safety has been taken over by polititians covering up their blatant negligence in road design.

A CAR accident that killed four teenagers in northern NSW shows the need for new driving laws in Queensland, the State Government says.
Four teenage boys, three aged 16 and one 17, were killed and the 17-year-old driver injured when the car they were travelling in veered off a road at Broken Head, near Byron Bay, and hit trees about 12.30am on Sunday.

Queensland Transport Minister Paul Lucas said new laws restricting young drivers to only one passenger aged under 21 between 11pm and 5am would stop similar accidents.

Now this is the biggest load of crap I have ever read on road safety!!!!!!!!!!!

This area was designated as a black spot area, in fact it was that high a risk area that signage was put up identifying it as a black spot area!

Now for a minister to focuss on behaviour when it is blatantly obvious that the design of the road increased probability of a fatal accident is a blatant cover up!

They cannot plead ignorance as they are totally aware this is a black spot area and have signed it as such so the governments are guilty of manslaughter in my book, if not murder to save money and not redesign and rebuild the road.

And for him to claim that this accident wouldn't have happened with new behavioural laws in place is a load of crap! What about all the deaths in the area that were not "P" plate drivers????? Are they going to make laws against everyone that uses the section of road????

Well given the total unprofessional approach of the Safety Institute of Australia in allowing unqualified people to be called a profession I would believe so! They will not save any lives with this sort of approach as can be seen in our workplaces and on our roads, they are actually increasing deaths by focussing blame on the drivers and ignoring the inherant risks in road design.

The only laws that need to be changed that would make a difference is a law that holds the minister for roads accountable for the design of the road.

I would make a law that states where a road is identified as a black spot area and nothing is done to redesign that road to remove the energy release points then the minister should face at least five years in Jail for failing in his/her obligation to control risks! And remember that roadway when used by truck drivers, couriers, taxi's, sales reps and the like is a workplace!

So the minister should already be charged with failing to comply with occupational health and safety legislation that states that risks need to be controlled!!!!!!!

Further every safety legislation in Australia asks for compliance with the hierachy of control and as such focussing on behavioural modification (administrative controls) should not be the first approach.

But as I said these ministers are covering their backsides!!!!!! And in doing so killing people every minute of everyday!

I also believe those in safety advising this minister should also be disbarred from being called a safety profession in anyway as they have no idea of the hierachy of controls! Until the focuss shifts to removing risks using substitution and engineering controls people will keep dying. And until ministers responsible for road design start facing prosecutions for failing to adequately control risks in a manor representing the hierachy people will keep dying.

Yep make a new law that a minister who is responsible for road design, who fails to act on redesigning a road that is identified as a black spot, goes to jail for manslaughter.

Now that law would make changes happen and reduce the road toll.

Regards
Daniel