Daytime running lights (DRL) have been advocated as a road safety measure for implementation in Australia. Two recent studies have calculated that a substantial number of crashes could be prevented each year, and that the cost of their widespread adoption would be outweighed by their benefits. However, both the number of crashes and the rate of crash prevention can be questioned, resulting in the need to reconsider the cost-benefit analysis. Treating Victoria as a case study, here a road crash database is analysed for crashes that might be averted or reduced in severity through implementation of DRL. Further, meteorology data is used to eliminate crashes that occur during hours of darkness and twilight, times during which drivers are likely to have turned their lights on anyway. The possibility that DRL may reduce or actually improve motorcycle safety is also briefly discussed. (a) For the covering record of the conference, please refer to ITRD no. E218380.
Samenvatting