The Travelsafe Committee of the Forty-sixth Parliament was appointed by the Legislative Assembly on 10 May 1990 to inquire into, report and make recommendations in relation to all aspects of road safety in Queensland. In appointing the Committee the Legislative Assembly determined the Committee’s Terms of Reference to be: to monitor, investigate and report on the causes of road crashes in Queensland, and issues of road safety; and (b) to review and report on countermeasures aimed at reducing deaths, injuries, and the social and economic costs to the community arising from road crashes or inappropriate road user behaviour. Furthermore, it was requested that the Committee give urgent consideration to the following matters: (a) the need for some form of compulsory periodic inspections of passenger vehicles as an effective means of reducing road crashes and the severity of associated injuries; (b) the need to improve the standards of motor vehicle repairs as a means of improving vehicle and road safety; and (c) current traffic law enforcement methods and penalties, and their effectiveness. On 4 June 1990 the Committee considered this request for urgent consideration and resolved to call for public submissions on items (a) and (b) with advertisements being placed in newspapers throughout the State, commencing on 16 June 1990. The closing date for submissions was 23 July 1990, however late submissions were accepted and considered. As at the date of reporting the Committee had received in excess of 100 submissions of which ten were from motor trades related bodies, 19 from automobile and like clubs and the remainder from private individuals and community and other organisations. The Committee also reviewed on 4 June 1990 the request for urgent consideration of the “current traffic law enforcement methods and penalties” and determined to call for submissions on this topic separately and to include an assessment of whether drivers needed to improve their knowledge and understanding of road rules and personal responsibilities to other road users and what needs to be done to improve road safety initiatives in these areas. In researching the topics the Committee conducted inspections and discussions in Canberra and Sydney. Public Hearings were held in Brisbane on 10, 11 and 12 September, Roma on 15 October, Charleville on 16 October and Longreach on 17 October 1990. A list of witnesses who have appeared before the Committee to date is contained in Appendix II. (Author/publisher)
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