April school holiday season in NSW is also koala breeding season.

Car crash stats from the Northern Rivers:
"From May 2023 to May 2024, 71 koalas were hit by vehicles, of which just 13 were rehabilitated and released back to the wild. Unfortunately, 80% of koalas hit by vehicles last year did not survive the impact. Our statistics show that there has been a 15% increase in the number of koalas admitted to our Northern Rivers Koala Hospital as a result of car strikes than the previous year. In a single week in 2023 six koalas died from vehicle strikes and from June to December 2022, Friends of the Koala, were called to 42 car strikes across the Northern Rivers region. This is devastating."

"Urban environments are stressful and disorienting for koalas. They experience both acute and chronic stress trying to find sufficient food and negotiating roads, domestic dogs, pools and fences."
>>
https://friendsofthekoala.org/koalas-and-cars/
#mobility #koalas #wildlife #roads #cars #speeding #RoadTrauma #pets #dogs #holidays #Bellingen #NSW #biodiversity

Chlamydia detected in Sydney’s only disease-free koala population

"The koalas were tested after they were found in Appin in south-western Sydney in September with injuries suggesting they had both been hit by cars." >>

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/20/chlamydia-detected-in-sydneys-only-disease-free-koala-population
#Koalas #roads #cars #Sydney #AppinRoad #roadtrauma

The human carnage on the roads - "accidents" and road violence

"In Australia, a country with a terrible occurrence and societal acceptance of violent road deaths (would we, for example, be so lackadaisical about the death “toll” were we measuring killings, accidental and otherwise, involving knives or dogs or lawnmowers?), we are culturally imbued with notions of our “rights” rather than our “privileges” when it comes to motor vehicle driving. Something to do with our vast expanses and wide-open roads perhaps."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/18/when-dad-couldnt-drive-any-more-it-was-devastating-but-he-was-just-too-old
#RoadViolence #cars #SUVs #roads #violence #accident #RoadTrauma #RoadTrafficFatalities #roadkill #sprawl #Australia #MobilityDesign

Making life easier for massive vehicles

"Australians are hooked on tax perks while road fatalities and emissions are surging and spending on petrol and insurance increasing."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/17/the-cars-eating-australia-should-we-be-trying-to-reverse-our-attraction-to-suvs-and-utes
#RoadViolence #SUVs #harm #SocietalCosts #governance #australia #WayofLife #RoadTrauma #pedestrians #wildlife #ClimateBreakdown

“Deliberate destruction of wildlife”

Drivers mowed down 10 wombats in a “deliberate act of animal cruelty” in the tiny Victorian town of Venus Bay. Police believe the animals were 'deliberately' killed by three vehicles."
https://au.news.yahoo.com/aussie-holiday-town-rocked-by-4wd-rampage-as-10-wombats-mowed-down-234225475.html
#biodiversity #wildlife #cars #RoadTrauma #wildlife #crime #wombats #Australia #Inverloch

Wildlife dying by the roadside for days...
Native wildlife rescue should be on par in urgency with a triple-0 call.
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-10/wildlife-victoria-rescue-groups-carers-animals-surfcoast-sunbury/104867536
#RoadTrauma #wildlife #roads #cars #Bellingen #GlenifferRoad #WildlifeRescue #volunteers #rescuers #carers #governance #biodiversity

Obituary for Stumpy the Kombu resident blue tongue lizard squashed by SUVs as Church St. is allowed to turn into yet another car park in Bellingen

Factors contributing directly to platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) mortality and implications for conserving populations in the wild

" Based on details of more than 400 platypus deaths with an identifiable cause recorded since 1989,
five main factors contributed directly to platypus mortalities:

drowning in fish nets or enclosed crustacean traps (such as opera house traps),
being killed by predators (especially canids),
becoming accidentally hooked by recreational anglers who then cut the line,
becoming entangled in discarded fishing line or other types of litter and
being hit by motor vehicles

... Additional mortality factors included drought, severe flooding, being drawn into irrigation pumps and entrapment in manmade materials or infrastructure.

Disease was implicated as being the likely causal agent in two platypus deaths, including a female that died late in lactation.

Platypus mortalities were recorded throughout the year on the southeastern Australian mainland but peaked in early autumn, when many recently weaned juveniles are likely to be present. Given the very high number of platypus mortalities attributed to the use of fish nets or enclosed crustacean traps, their use should be banned in all waters where platypus population are known to occur. "
>>
Melody Serena et al., Factors contributing directly to platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) mortality and implications for conserving populations in the wild
January 2025 Australian Mammalogy 47(1)
https://doi.org/10.1071/AM24032
#platypus #rivers #monotreme #wildlife #habitat #conservation #destruction #degradation #NSW #rivers #fishing #entanglement #traps #infrastructure #canids #cars #roads #RoadTrauma #mortality #extinction makers

Human cost of unsafe driving

"'Selfish' drivers and risk-taking behaviours fuelling road deaths. A recent Australian Road Safety Foundation survey has found 39 per cent of drivers admit to breaking the law on country roads.The head of the Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) says its latest research suggests New South Wales drivers are deliberately engaging in unsafe behaviour behind the wheel. It found 39 per cent of drivers surveyed admitted to breaking the law on regional roads as they believed it was safe to do so."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-10/australian-road-safety-foundation-survey-drivers-break-law/104330950
#cars #motorists #roads #Bellingen #MidNorthCoast #GlenifferRoad #roadkill #RoadTrauma #MobilityDesign #RoadDeaths #climate

Road trauma data could document the absence of foot traffic and cycling infrastructure. Australia has just recorded its deadliest 12 months on the roads in nearly 12 years, with 1,310 people killed to 30 June.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/23/australia-records-its-deadliest-year-on-the-road-in-more-than-a-decade
#MobilityDesign #RoadTrauma #cars #roads #VisionZero #climate #speed #ActiveMobility

Road trauma by mobility design

"With more and more drivers opting for larger vehicles under the guise of personal safety, they may inadvertently compromise the safety of pedestrians and other road users. For every fatal accident avoided by someone inside a large vehicle, there are at least 4.3 additional fatal accidents involving others".

"Changing the trend towards bigger cars requires strong policy and (dis)incentives. There’s currently a discussion about imposing heavier taxes and/or registration fees on SUVs and larger cars, particularly for their safety implications on others."

"In some places, such as Paris, heavier vehicles are discouraged by tripling parking rates for cars over a certain weight"

Fund and design active transport
>>
https://theconversation.com/big-cars-might-make-you-feel-safer-but-heres-how-vehicle-size-impacts-others-in-a-crash-223343
#MobilityDesign #regulation #Cars #SUVs #RooBars #fatalities #injuries #RoadTrauma #trauma #crashes #toddlers #StopdeKindermoord #driveways #VehicularManslaughter #bicycling #pedestrians #roadkill #VisionZero #climate

Road deaths
"Australian road deaths rising to levels not seen in nearly a decade."

"Last year, 1,266 Australians died from road accidents involving at least one car and a driver, passenger, pedestrian or cyclist. The economic cost of Australian road trauma exceeds $27 billion each year. That's 1.8 per cent per cent of Australia's GDP."
"Vision Zero: no loss of life or serious injury on roads is acceptable.">>
https://theconversation.com/can-we-cut-road-deaths-to-zero-by-2050-current-trends-say-no-whats-going-wrong-220289

Car dependency in Australia is unquestioned. The 'road toll' is a sacrifice to private mobility in sprawling sub-urbia. The present 'mobility design' gives people no options to travel on (fossil fuel free) public transport, walk or cycle without fear of being maimed or squashed by a SUV.

https://www.edo.org.au/2023/11/01/poor-laws-contributing-to-an-estimated-11000-australian-transport-pollution-deaths-each-year/ There is rightly a lot of concern about a rising injury and death toll of road accidents at present and yet research reviewed by Environmental Defenders Office shows there is no safe level of exposure to particulate matter. The research found 11,000 premature deaths each year were attributable to transport pollution – that’s almost 10 times the number of people killed in road traffic accidents in 2022. Link to the full report in the article. #auspol #climate #RoadTrauma #environment

Killer roads

Where is the infrastructure where one does not have to be propelled by fossil fuel at high speed?
Each (new) road should have a shady and separated cycling and walking infrastructure factored in.
Wildlife crossings all along the way.

Australia’s road toll continues to rise with 37 additional people killed in 'accidents' compared to the previous 12 months, despite a nationwide target to halve road deaths by 2030.

“The rising road toll came despite a National Road Safety Action Plan target to halve deaths by 2030 and cut serious transport injuries by 30%. In 2023, Australia is unable to adequately quantify the extent of road trauma, or the effectiveness of interventions being deployed to reduce it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/23/australias-road-toll-continues-to-rise-with-most-states-falling-behind-safety-goals

Denying humanness to others
has a long history...

Recent research from #Australia has found that many people consider cyclists to be less than fully #human.

"We found images of #cyclists wearing #helmets or #safety vests to have a higher probability of being selected as less human compared to images of cyclists wearing no safety equipment. The results have implications for research on cyclists."

"Dehumanisation has been found to be predictive of hostile and aggressive behaviour, our finding highlights a potential conflict around the perception and utility of safety gear such as high visibility vests; although designed for safety, they may inadvertently increase levels of hostility and #aggression toward this group of vulnerable road users."

"Research indicates that low status groups are dehumanised – viewed as less civilised and evolved than groups afforded a higher #status."

I often wonder if the SUVs with black tinted windows contain any humans?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847823001018
#Cycling #SafetyAttire #SustainableMobility #CarbonNeutral #ActiveTransportation #Climate #Dehumanisation #Subhuman #Essentialism #Cars #FossilFuel #Motorists #Roadtrauma #Roadkill #OutGroup #Civilisation

Deaths and #Trauma on Australia's #Roads.
"The annual road toll has risen about 10 per cent since 2001.
Only NSW is on track to achieve its target. However, it made no progress in the past 12 months, with the same number of road deaths as the year before.
Australia’s trajectory to meet the National Road Safety Strategy targets of halving road deaths through the decade to 2030 and reducing serious injuries by 30 per cent is badly off course."

And of course the habitual call for more of the same follows: More funding, more roads, more...

"#VisionZero is a principle that no one should be killed or seriously injured using our road networks. Its adoption is a commitment to a road transport system that does not kill or seriously injure people."
https://www.roadsafety.gov.au/nrss/fact-sheets/vision-zero-safe-system

The 'Integral #Accident'
"When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane #crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution… Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress. – Paul Virillio
https://gregswan.net/2018/11/30/french-cultural-theorist-paul-virillio-on-the-integral-accident/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-14/road-toll-rises-in-almost-every-state-and-territory/102338652
#RoadTrauma #Cars #Traffic #Fatalities #Injuries Equitable #Mobility #Roadkill #Toll #Sacrifice #RiskSociety