NRMA Motoring Blog

When we first mentioned to friends our intention to drive around southern Italy, they looked at us as though we were off to Baghdad for a holiday.

“But Italian drivers are lunatics!” they wailed. “You’ll never get back alive!”

The reality is quite different. In Italy, the driver, who has been properly trained as a teenager, is allowed to think and act in large part according to his or her own judgement and the prevailing conditions. It is the individual who is ultimately responsible for road safety.

This approach is reflected in the relatively benign attitude taken by the police to enforcement.

In Australia, it’s not up to individual drivers to decide how they drive. The rules do that, and everybody must follow them. If we all follow the rules, our governments argue, we will be safe. Crashes happen when we break the rules.

In practice, this takes decision making responsibility away from the individual, so Australians tend to be lazy, inattentive drivers. We are also very aggressive, in a much more menacing way than drivers in other countries.

In more than 3000 km of driving through southern Italy, I saw a lot of rule breaking. But I also saw no road rage, and had no-one take me by surprise or put me at risk by doing something stupid.

Unfortunately, we see examples of this behaviour every time we get behind the wheel in this country. Italians are great drivers. Australians are hopeless.

What do you think?

The illegal street racing debate is something that pops up occasionally, often when it’s been the cause of a serious crash.

In 2005, seven people were injured when a car participating in an illegal race hit a group of spectators. Since then, Police in NSW have had the power to confiscate cars used in illegal races.

The subject arose once again recently; a couple were killed when their car was hit by two vehicles suspected of being raced illegally along the Great Western Highway.

Regardless of whether it was an organised street race or a spontaneous act of hooning ending in disaster, is this tragedy a one-off or does more need to be done about illegal street racing immediately?

Deterring illegal street racers

Queensland has increased its jail sentences for illegal racers from three to five years. If someone is killed as a result of street racing, the maximum sentence is 14 years – nearing the sentence for murder.

The punishments are lighter in NSW and include confiscation and impoundment of vehicle, loss of licence for twelve months and a maximum $2200 fine. According to NSW Police Minister David Campbell, more money is being spent on wheel clamps to immobilise cars used in illegal races. This has prompted the opposition to call for heavier penalties, including jail terms similar to those seen in QLD.

Will this deter drivers any more than the threat of having their car confiscated?

Street racing as a culture

Documentaries, computer games, websites and underground as well as Hollywood films have all covered the subject of illegal street racing. Evidently, street racing has a market.

It would be unfair to assume everybody interested in vehicle modification participates in illegal street racing. But does the modification of cars and street racing go hand in hand? If so, can anything be done to change this?

Legal races

There’s no doubt racing mates in a safe, official capacity on real tracks using proper timing equipment would be attractive to some young drivers, and, importantly, get it off the streets.

Wicked Wednesdays at Western Sydney International Dragways gives racing enthusiasts the opportunity to participate in off-street racing in a controlled and safe environment.

Similarly, Calder Park in Victoria also has popular off-street racing nights where races are held in conjunction with the police.

But interest in these legal races far outweighs availability. Different vehicle classes are run each week at Calder Park and the wait between class meets can be over a month.

Are these legal races a solution or is this another example of condoning a problem deemed too difficult to fix?

What, if anything, will minimise incidents of illegal street racing so we don’t only hear about it when it kills somebody?