Land transport accidents - the leading cause of 1% of all deaths in Australia

[levymetal]

Probably been posted before, I don't care. I got some stats from ABS and made a pie chart showing the spread and percentages. They're from 2007, but nothing's really changed, more road deaths, more cancer deaths so it's all in proportion. Remember, this is only the top 20 causes of death as well, so the total percentage of land transport accidents is actually less than 1% of all deaths in Australia.




Some of those causes can't be helped, but most of them can. I'm sure if the government spent as much money on other causes as they did on road accidents they would save A LOT more lives. Have you ever seen a government initiative to stop smoking? In fact, do you even know if the government is tackling any of those other causes? I sure as hell don't, which means even if they are, the budget they put towards it is very limited.

[Philthy]

As far as Government help goes - A friend of mine helps out at Lifeline (suicide helpline), and had to pay her own way through the $900ish training course.
Now I'm not going to say the government is spending too much on road safety, but how about subsidising things like the lifeline course.
I'm sure there are many other examples but this is one i've run into recently

[vlv8vic]

yeah that suicide stat is scarily high. I did a short course a while ago about prevention, because of these statistics more education will start creeping into schools (i won't complain about crowded curriculum on this one...) and some of the stats were just unbelievable. The sad part is there are still people who say those who are depressed etc have full control over their feelings etc. That's probably why the old stigma is attached, because of these old farts who don't understand how it really works.

I might have though road related deaths would be higher....

[Philthy]

I might have though road related deaths would be higher....

Actually....now that I look closer at it, most of these deaths would be older people.
I have a feeling that if you looked at deaths of people aged, say under 40, then car accidents would be a lot higher...but then so would suicide

[ScoHar]

I can't comment much as im in a different country, but im sure there is a calculation that can put an amount of risk prevention against all of those causes of death it would show that road accidents are probably the easiest to reduce, with no direct revenue coming from the cause, i.e smokers end up paying a large tax as they have more health problems, whereas everyone has to pay on the road for the ones that die.

Not sure but we have a ACC levy added to the cost of registration for everyone to cover the people that have road related accidents

might not make sense sorry.

[Bax]

The government doesn't put any money into health. Think about how much gets spent on hospitals compared to road safety - I'm fairly sure the hospitals would get a hell of a lot more.

Anti smoking campaigns? On the tv all the time.

[levymetal]

The government doesn't put any money into health. Think about how much gets spent on hospitals compared to road safety - I'm fairly sure the hospitals would get a hell of a lot more.

That's not really my point. Hospitals don't prevent causes of death, they only treat them once they've already occurred. I am talking about treating causes at the source, eg deaths from smoking, diabetes, skin cancer, prostate cancer can all be reduced - probably a lot more than road accidents - with proper education about the subjects.

Anti smoking campaigns? On the tv all the time.

The ads I see are from nicorette. Not the government. Maybe I have seen one actually, one ad that gets shown 50% less than road safety ads while the amount of deaths caused by smoking is 6 times greater. QLD might be different.

[ScoHar]

That's not really my point. Hospitals don't prevent causes of death, they only treat them once they've already occurred. I am talking about treating causes at the source, eg deaths from smoking, diabetes, skin cancer, prostate cancer can all be reduced - probably a lot more than road accidents - with proper education about the subjects.

If we all sit in bubbles? life would be pretty bland.

[levymetal]

If we all sit in bubbles? life would be pretty bland.

You make a good point. It's way easier to die once you hit 50 instead of getting your prostate checked.

[ScoHar]

You make a good point. It's way easier to die once you hit 50 instead of getting your prostate checked.

Or not go out in the sun, not eat certain foods, Yes prostate cancer can be found in examinations. still no way of preventing that yet. alot of these causes of death cannot be fixed at the source, some can be fixed if found early enough, but alot have to do with human genetics etc, but I don't know enough about that to get into it. Its all about peoples lifestyles. Theres not alot people can do about it.

And yes eating properly and exercising can help out but thats all upto peoples lifestyles.

[levymetal]

Or not go out in the sun, not eat certain foods, Yes prostate cancer can be found in examinations. still no way of preventing that yet. alot of these causes of death cannot be fixed at the source, some can be fixed if found early enough, but alot have to do with human genetics etc, but I don't know enough about that to get into it. Its all about peoples lifestyles. Theres not alot people can do about it.

Prostate cancer can be treated very effectively if diagnosed early enough. Sadly a lot of men don't want a finger up their bum or aren't aware so they end up dying for it. My dad only found out because he couldn't piss, and not everyone has this problem when they get it. You'd never know otherwise. You're right, it is about their lifestyles. Diabetes has the same issue - people get fat and they don't even know they have diabetes. Yet if people were more aware, a lot less people would die because diabetes is pretty easy to manage. Skin cancer - yeah there actually is a lot of emphasis on this at the moment. I don't follow it, I never wear sunscreen, and I have English skin, and I like trying to get it tanned.

Smoking and lung cancer is a huge one to me though - I don't see how anyone's life is better off (or less bland) because they smoke. Fair enough, it's your own decision and you'll tell me that you can do what you want when it only affects you, but I've now seen 2 people die from lung cancer - smoking related - and I can tell you that it affects a hell of a lot more people than yourself when you do kick the bucket.

[ScoHar]

Yea smoking would be the worst off, but on the other hand it also contributes to a revenue for the government, so if they were to ban it all together its a situations of screwed if you do screwed if you don't (from governments point of view). In NZ we have many many plans run by the government to try and quit smoking, Patches, Gum, Inhalers etc are all free, I guess the only other thing NZ government could do besides banning it, is make the price of smokes go up, which they are and succeeding with.

[levymetal]

Haha the Australian government is smart, they jack the prices of cigarettes up *JUST* enough so it doesn't affect the sales, and they claim to be helping, but they're just trying to maximise the profit .

[graemevb]

What is the point of this thread, to make us all think that road accidents amongst twenty year olds( or however old you are) is not a big problem in this country? Police should be stopping 50 year olds and shoving a finger up their arses instead of ridding the roads of hoons?
for ffs, the pie chart you show gives the causes of deaths for everyone that dies in this country, lots of people die in this country everyday(it cant be stopped or people would live for ever), and most of the ones listed there are basically age related illnesses that most of us are genetically disposed to. You'll see old age isnt one of the ones listed, because you have to die of something.!

[Tsunamix]

Ive known this since 2004. 5 times as many MEN in Australian were killed by Prostate cancer in 2004 , than the total of all men women and children than were killed in road accidents in 2004.
Annual reserach budget for Prostate cance in Australin in 2004 - 19.6 Million.
Annual advertising Budget for the speed safety campaign in QUEENSLAND ALONE in 2004 - 88.2 Million.

When you look at the percentage of purely speed caused road accidents (11.8%) it's ridiculous. Technically speaking we should be fined more for eating junk food than being 15KPH over the limit.

Speed is a factor in every accident, if your speed was zero then the number of accidents was zero. But for years speed has been blown out of proportion because it's MEASURABLE and therefore actionable.

Notice how other non ACTIONABLE traffic offences have been ignored ? (indicating, tailgating, giving way, etc)

[levymetal]

What is the point of this thread, to make us all think that road accidents amongst twenty year olds( or however old you are) is not a big problem in this country? Police should be stopping 50 year olds and shoving a finger up their arses instead of ridding the roads of hoons?
for ffs, the pie chart you show gives the causes of deaths for everyone that dies in this country, lots of people die in this country everyday(it cant be stopped or people would live for ever), and most of the ones listed there are basically age related illnesses that most of us are genetically disposed to. You'll see old age isnt one of the ones listed, because you have to die of something.!

Lung cancer (C34) was the underlying cause of 7,623 (96%) deaths due to Cancers of the respiratory system and heart.

90% of lung cancer is smoking related, NOT old age. unless you call 55 old. a 25% reduction in people who smoke would actually cancel out the TOTAL amount of people who die from car accidents. and that's just ONE of the 20 causes. maybe 10 of those are actually age related, but even then some can still be prevented? or do you think that it's more important to save young lives than old lives? read the other posts before you comment as well.

[graemevb]

90% of lung cancer is smoking related, NOT old age. unless you call 55 old. a 25% reduction in people who smoke would actually cancel out the TOTAL amount of people who die from car accidents. and that's just ONE of the 20 causes. maybe 10 of those are actually age related, but even then some can still be prevented? or do you think that it's more important to save young lives than old lives? read the other posts before you comment as well.

Did I say lung cancer is caused by old age? What I did say is that majority of conditions listed on the pie chart you took the trouble to show us are basically old age conditions that we cant do much about. Lung and trachea cancer making up 8% according to the chart you supplied, if Ive got the right shade of olive!. No, Im not buying your sudden concern for the populace, its just a veiled attempt at condoning hooning, by using the large number of people that die of age related conditions every day to suggest that the people needlessly killed in road accidents is just incidental to the overal picture.

Sure I hate smoking, more than you can imagine, though some one lighting up a fag in their own home doesnt put me or the community at risk in the same way as some mentally challenged person practising their drifting skills on local streets.
It wouldnt take much for the government to get the population off ciggies, they just dont want to upset to many of the moccy shufflin voters. Bring it on, $40 a pack for cigs, jail for selling them to minors, ban films showing people smoking, ban them completely, whatever.

[levymetal]

Did I say lung cancer is caused by old age?

No, Im not buying your sudden concern for the populace, its just a veiled attempt at condoning hooning

LOL practice what you preach. You don't like words being put in your mouth, yet you're happy to shovel a ****load of shit I never said into mine.

I didn't mention the word hoon once in this thread.

I didn't say it was ok to speed or drive dangerously.

I said there were better ways to save lives.

Get some glasses and learn to read.

[MikesCalais]

I shouldnt have read this thread while eating my pasta with sausage and drinkin a beer at 2am (heart disease, heart faliure, liver faliure, etc etc )

Don't always blindly believe statistics though... take it from someone whos spent three and a half years working with statistics...

[danja]

Have you ever seen a government initiative to stop smoking? In fact, do you even know if the government is tackling any of those other causes? I sure as hell don't, which means even if they are, the budget they put towards it is very limited.

I said there were better ways to save lives.

You imply that the government doesn't do anything to reduce other forms of preventable death, which of course is absolutely not true.

There is a huge amount of money put into anti-smoking campaigns and you've been living under a rock if you haven't heard all the debate about junk food in schools etc.

The new smoking taxes are not a simple money grab, indeed ultimately they are the reverse, while short term taxes rise, as smoking rates decline the overall income decreases. There is plenty of evidence to show that smoking rates are directly impacted by cost. Add to that the recent packaging laws, advertising restrictions, sale display restrictions, and now they are considering now allowing any branded packaging whatsoever, you're kidding yourself if you think there is some hidden agenda here. More so, once you balance the books by considering the healthcare drain that smoking related illness puts on the system, it's not quite as profitable as people seem to think it is.

Last year alone $628,895,370 of grant money was awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, much of which will be spend researching many of those causes of death in your pie chart there.

Sorry, but I don't think you know what you're talking about.

[Reaper]

Some of those causes can't be helped, but most of them can. I'm sure if the government spent as much money on other causes as they did on road accidents they would save A LOT more lives. Have you ever seen a government initiative to stop smoking? In fact, do you even know if the government is tackling any of those other causes? I sure as hell don't, which means even if they are, the budget they put towards it is very limited.

Seriously, this is the biggest load of shit I have seen in a long time. Govco pumps millions into campaigns that are completely intended for nothing other than public health. Check out the Quit campaign from the anti-cancer council for a start. Slip-Slop-Slap, Wipe off 5, many of the breast/prostate/whatever cancer awareness campaigns amongst many others are all either totally or substantially funded by govco. Private industry and public donations also contribute as well. I have no problem with improved road safety initiatives.

Reaper

[levymetal]

you've been living under a rock if you haven't heard all the debate about junk food in schools etc.

Debate? Wow, that does a lot doesn't it. Kid dies on the road BAM new laws are brought in every single time. 10,000 kids become fat, overweight, unhealthy, and sick, at risk of halving their life and government 'talks' about the issue.

There is plenty of evidence to show that smoking rates are directly impacted by cost.

Practically everyone I know smokes and not one of them has quit. Additionally, increasing the cost of cigarettes is discriminatory. It affects low income earners a lot more than high income earners.

[STEALTHY™]

LOL practice what you preach. You don't like words being put in your mouth, yet you're happy to shovel a ****load of shit I never said into mine.

I didn't mention the word hoon once in this thread.

I didn't say it was ok to speed or drive dangerously.

I said there were better ways to save lives.

Get some glasses and learn to read.

graemevb = commsirac. Your fighting a losing battle replying to him.....

[levymetal]

He seems to see shit that isn't there? I think he's gone crazy. Maybe if I ignore it it will go away.

Losing a battle against everyone anyway though, I give up. Made a mistake by posting this thread. I thought it was interesting how extreme amounts of the governments money goes to save less than 1% of all deaths in Australia, where the same amount of money in other regions could save 5%-10%, but looks like that feeling is unique to myself.

[danja]

Debate? Wow, that does a lot doesn't it. Kid dies on the road BAM new laws are brought in every single time. 10,000 kids become fat, overweight, unhealthy, and sick, at risk of halving their life and government 'talks' about the issue.

In NSW they banned soft drinks in school canteens, and as I recall lots of other junk foods like ice cream, chocolate/confectionary, meat pies etc. There were awareness campaigns being run to promote exercise etc.

Practically everyone I know smokes and not one of them has quit. Additionally, increasing the cost of cigarettes is discriminatory. It affects low income earners a lot more than high income earners.

Yeah, see that would be what we call anecdotal evidence, as opposed to scientific evidence. People have done proper studies, with sample sizes larger than "all your mates", and have shown significant price elasticity in smoking rates.

It pays to do your homework:
Tax, price and cigarette smoking: evidence from the tobacco documents and implications for tobacco company marketing strategies -- Chaloupka et al. 11 (Supplement 1): i62 -- Tobacco Control

Yes, using price as a control measure is somewhat discriminatory. Are you suggesting it's illegal in some way? The majority of smokers are from low-income backgrounds, so I'd call it devilishly targeted. If it's costing you too much, stop smoking - that's entirely the point here.