Old Cars Death On Wheels

Sun Herald

Sunday February 23, 1997

Edited by Phil Scott

IF you drive an old car, research suggests you have a 50 per cent greater risk of dying in it than owners of later models.

A study funded by the NRMA and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries reaches this rather chilling conclusion after running NSW accident data through the CSIRO computer.

Fatal crashes between 1977 and 1991 were studied, with the report showing a major shift in occupant deaths among older models.

For every 100 million kilometres travelled, the fatality rate among older cars is typically 50pc higher than average and twice that of newer cars, says the author of the report, traffic consultant Rodney Vaughan.

The median age of Australian cars has doubled in the past 30 years, he says, with the over involvement of the oldest cars on our roads first appearing in 1984. By 1991 deaths in older models accounted for more than a third of fatalities, up from 12pc in 1977. "It is now plain that the aging of the car population in Australia over the past decades has been bad for road safety," Mr Vaughan said.

NRMA chief engineer Jack Haley agreed. "The report tells us there is a problem with older cars and, perhaps, older drivers, which is a sensitive issue. There is a problem with cars over 12 years old but what the report doesn't tell us is if the cars were roadworthy."

The NRMA, several State government transport departments and the Insurance Council of Australia have formed the Newer Vehicle Benefits Task Force, to be chaired by the Australian Automobile Association, to study the problem further.

The old-car issue is an emotive one, political dynamite for governments and a boon to Australia Post. Every time the issue is raised on this page, our mailbag blossoms. To angry defenders of older models, please address your letters of complaint not to us (we're just the messenger) but to the NRMA or the AAA in Canberra.