Cars too dangerous

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister John Anderson proposes a sensible approach to car safety:

He told The Sunday Age he believed the use of new technology in cars could account for 12 percentage points of the goal to cut the road toll by 40 per cent.

"My approach to this is to try and find a light-handed regulatory approach that encourages the uptake of innovation and sensible harmonisation rather than attempts to dictate," he said.

Australasian College of Road Safety president Raphael Grzebieta is unimpressed – I'd be impressed if anyone can pronounce his surname without spraining his tongue:

"There are no design rules for rollover protection systems or electronic stability controls to prevent rollovers," he said.

He challenged Mr Anderson on the issue of seatbelts, saying they were not being worn in 10 to 15 per cent of road deaths. "Vehicles can now be manufactured so they will not start if a seatbelt is not worn," he said.

Cars should be fitted with a breathalyser that immobilises the engine if it detects a driver with a blood alcohol reading in excess of 0.05, and speedometers changed so they could measure speeds only up to 120 km/h.

A six-airbag system to protect against front, side and rollover crashes should also be mandatory, he said.

Jeez, this guy would have us all riding around in 20 horsepower motorized marshallows while wearing inflatable sumo-suits and crash helmets. If the government wanted to do something it could start by taking the licenses off some of the dickheads who continually hoon around my neighbourhood.