DAYS before Australia votes in the federal election, the coalition has made a commitment to back a safety campaign initiated by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) for “anti pork barrelling” road funding reforms.

The support by a ruling coalition to the AAA’s ‘My Safety Counts’ campaign follows what the AAA said was “commitment from dozens of independent and minor party candidates.”

The AAA said that almost 500,000km of Australian roads have been rated for safety using the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) and its five-star scale.

‘My Safety Counts’ campaign

“But because these ratings are not made public, Australian voters have no way of knowing whether roads are being funded for political reasons or to improve road safety,” said AAA managing director Michael Bradley.

“Relevant AusRAP ratings should be published at the time of road announcements so Australians can make their own conclusions about what’s motivating the road funding decisions or parties and candidates.

“The AAA today thanks the coalition for backing this commonsense transparency measure that will ensure road funding gets to projects where it can save the most lives.”

The My Safety Counts campaign asks Australians via mysafetycounts.org.au for evidence about announced road proposals, and their views on evidence-based funding.

Michael Bradley

The AAA said that its research showed Australians were “deeply cynical” about road funding, and that “voters think federal politicians prioritise projects that deliver political benefits, over projects that deliver safety or economic benefits.”Since January, the AAA has tallied more than 80 new road project commitments from the major parties. It expects more than half of these should have an AusRAP rating, yet only one project announcement has been substantiated by an AusRAP rating.

The AusRAP star rating system is used by every Australian state and territory to measure the safety of the roads and how potential upgrades affect safety outcomes. AusRAP’s engineering protocols are also used in 131 other countries.

AusRAP road safety assessments on individual roads are based on the measurement and evaluation of risk factors, such as average daily traffic; speed limit; number of lanes in each direction; lane width; shoulder width; presence or absence of roadside barriers and rumble strips; gradient and curvature; quality of line markings; skid resistance; whether road is single or dual carriageway; and provisions for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

The commitments follow the release of fresh data that showed Australia’s road safety crisis continuing to worsen.

‘My Safety Counts’ campaign

Mr Bradley said the AAA was pursuing its reform proposal during the election period through its My Safety Counts campaign, with calls for improved safety and improved funding integrity drawing strong support from across the political spectrum.

The formal endorsement from the coalition parties builds on public support offered by independent MPs Monique Ryan (Kooyong), Andrew Wilkie (Clark), Bob Katter (Kennedy), Helen Haines (Indi), Sophie Scamps (Mackellar), Zoe Daniel (Goldstein), Senator David Pocock (ACT), and all Greens party candidates.

Mr Bradley said: “Efforts to reduce Australia’s soaring road toll should enjoy broad support and be above partisan politics, and we look forward to hearing whether the Labor Party is also prepared to stand up for funding integrity and transparency in the lead-up to polling day.”