140km/h SAFER IN AUSTRALIA: SAFETY EXPERT

Barry Park
October 12, 2010 - 3:18PM
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Australian drivers would be safer travelling at higher speeds on freeways, a German safety expert says.

Dr Ulrich Mellinghoff, the head of safety at German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz, believes that Australian authorities could also better manage our road network to create a system that was much safer for all motorists.

Dr Mellinghoff is visiting Australia to showcase safety technology fitted to the car maker's vehicles. He said drivers here should be allowed to travel faster on long stretches of road, mainly to fight fatigue.

He said Australian roads also needed to be better managed to introduce a European-style system where slow-moving traffic - including trucks - was confined to the left lane on freeways, freeing up the right lane for high-speed traffic.

''In Germany, it is not allowed for cars to pass on both sides (of slow-moving traffic),'' he said. ''This divides the traffic more or less, with faster driving on the left side and the slower-driving cars on the right side.

''I think there is no difference here. A system that works in Germany will work in Australia the same way.

''Maybe a top speed of 200km/h is not necessary, but I think if you divided it (the traffic) a little bit on these very long distances you have to drive, it's better to drive at 130 km/h or 140 km/h, although in terms of drowsiness you still have to drive at 100km/h.

''We in Germany have absolutely no problem with higher speeds. We've discussed it often, and very often the discussion was that it was unsafe. But our statistics show this is not the case.''

Dr Mellinghoff, who is on his first visit to Australia, said while the quality of roads here was comparable with those in Germany, the drivers were not.

''In Australia, the people drive very close to each other, and the distance between two cars is much closer than in Germany,'' he said. ''I think the people don't realise how critical, how dangerous this is.''

Dr Mellinghoff said Australia could also improve its road safety record by lowering all suburban speed limits to 60km/h, and imposing a much harsher speed limit on trucks.

''We know that a truck going from 80km/h to zero needs the same length in braking as a passenger car at 120km/h to zero,'' he said.

''It's better that trucks drive at 80km/h or 90km/h. I think this would help to optimise safety in Australia.''

Authorities would also have to do more to separate different road users, such as cars and cyclists, he said.

''I was very surprised to read on the highway that cyclists have to use the parking shoulder,'' he said.

''In Germany, it is absolutely forbidden for the bicycle to go on the highway. We try to divide the different people, the different partners in the traffic, and it makes it much safer.''

Despite having no speed limits on some roads, Dr Mellinghoff said the annual number of deaths per head of population in Germany had remained constant for the past five years, at about 28 fatalities per 100,000 people.

By comparison, he said, Australia's fatality rate sits at about 30 deaths per 100,000 people, almost the same as Germany's.

Of the 4000 people expected to die on German roads this year, only about 150 deaths were likely to be attributed to crashes on high-speed highways, Dr Mellinghoff said.

He said the next goal for car makers was to get the death rate down to one in 100,000 people, or about the same as the annual death toll for the aviation industry.

Volvo is working in conjunction with the Swedish authorities to aim for a zero road toll by 2020 as part of its Vision 2020 program.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/drive/motor-news/140kmh-safer-in-australia-safety-expert-20101011-16fer.html