Too many crashes and near misses occur in Yarra
Personal story from Yarra
Australian Automobile Association
The Australian Automobile Association publishes reports of crashes and deaths in Australia. Their October 2023 report shows that traffic deaths are increasing:
CrashDash
CrashDash is a dashboard to view crash data that is sourced from governments. You can zoom in on your local area, such as the City of Yarra.
WalkSpot and BikeSpot data
Other crash data is available from WalkSpot and BikeSpot, showing that our main shopping streets contain significant hazards and need to be improved.
Cost of crashes
Crashes cost taxpayers money, either directly through car repair costs and insurance premiums, or indirectly via taxes that pay for higher health and rehabilitation costs. Crashes also deter taxpayers from choosing lower-cost modes of transport, such as cycling. This is a financial burden on our economy. In Victoria, for 1993-94, the cost of crashes was estimated at over $2 billion dollars. Now in 2019 we have more traffic and more crashes, costing us even more money.
Value of a human life
The Australian Government Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Office of Best Practice Regulation values a human life at $4.5m and the value of a statistical life year at $195,000 in 2018 dollars.
Conclusion
To reduce both the incidence of crashes and their cost to the taxpayer, local and state government should collaborate to invest in infrastructure (and speed limits) based on Safe System. This is a win-win that is bi-partisan, comprising both economic rationalism and equity for all road users. If Yarra invests $10m per year in safe travel infrastructure and thwarts the loss of two lives, then the investment has not cost us anything. In contrast, all the other benefits (such as reduced population health costs) mean the investment definitely has a positive benefit/cost ratio.