Youth road safety

Youth are over-represented in road crashes in Australia. During 1996, young people (aged 17-25 years) were involved in 41% of fatal crashes and 37% of hospitalisation crashes in Australia. In 1997 youth were involved in a total of 8513 fatal and hospitalisation crashes. To address the issue of youth involvement in road crashes, Austroads has undertaken to develop a National Action Plan for Youth Road Safety for consideration within the National Road Safety Strategy being developed by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Each jurisdiction in Australia and in New Zealand has developed strategies to address the issue of young driver involvement in road crashes. Strategies included developing integrated driver education and training programs; improving graduated licensing schemes where required; involving youth in the development of programs; and funding research projects to establish a better understanding of youth road safety issues. This document comprises a draft set of recommended strategies for addressing youth road safety issues. The strategies listed below are based on outcomes from the Youth Road Safety Workshop held in Melbourne in April 1999. The recommended strategies include: -Youth involvement and ownership -Family, community and industry responsibility -Public education -Driver education, training and licensing -Enforcement support -Legislation -Research and evaluation -Coordination and integration The main objective and action points are provided for each of the recommended strategies listed above.