A series of Cairns-specific measures will be rolled out by the State Government following a successful Cairns Road Safety Summit.

Several key areas for confronting the road toll in the Cairns region were outlined and data gathered through the summit would be used in developing each of the initiatives.

The summit and the online surveys leading up to it have given some unique insights into the Cairns community and how we can tailor the delivery of our safety messages.
It's been a very effective way to gain the views of the Far North Queensland community on road safety.

We have emerged from this summit with some clear next steps specifically for this region and I thank everyone who contributed. Some of the next steps include:

Roads Rules Refresher
There was evidence to suggest that breaking the road rules was a common contributor to fatal crashes in Queensland. In 2008, illegal manoeuvres contributed to 58 fatalities - failing to give way or stop contributed to 20, and disobeying a traffic light or sign was involved in 16.

The Summit highlighted this region's desire for more road safety information, especially on road rules. In response, a targeted print campaign of almost $100,000 would direct Cairns motorist to sources of refresher information on road rules including:

• Merging
• Roundabouts
• Giving way & stopping at intersections without traffic lights
• Safe following distances (not tailgating)
• Yellow Traffic lights
• U- turns
• Overtaking and keeping left

A free pocket guide explaining the top ten most problematic road rules would also be distributed in the Cairns region through Electorate Offices, Transport Customer Service Centres, Police Stations, Q-GAPs and Council Libraries.

Tourist information
The summit had also highlighted the fact that Far North Queensland had already seen two fatalities involving international drivers this year.

The Queensland Government will reintroduce stickers for hire cars with a clear ‘Keep left' message to all rental car operators for placement on hire vehicle steering wheels.

While road safety is the responsibility of all motorists, these measures aim to bring road safety to the minds of international tourists travelling in the area.

Further local consultation
The Cairns Summit was the beginning of significant consultation that the Bligh Government was planning to undertake in 2010 as part of the development of the next Queensland Road Safety Strategy 2012-2021.

The Northern Road Safety Alliance, which is chaired by the Department of Transport and Main Roads and has members drawn from key stakeholder groups, will keep the dialogue going.

Young Driver Training
The summit also highlighted the community's concern about adequately educating young people about road safety. Considerable work was undertaken to improve young driver safety almost two and a half years ago with the commencement of the graduated licensing system which introduced much stronger requirements and restrictions on learner and provisional drivers.

Since then, the Queensland Government has identified the opportunity to further strengthen young driver education in Queensland by developing a self-evaluation resource to those delivering effective road safety and driver education.

The Minister for Transport Rachel Nolan launched a self-evaluation kit to assist driver trainers and schools in providing and choosing high quality road safety programs for young drivers.

The Northern Road Safety Alliance would continue the grass-roots work by meeting with local Cairns providers of education and training programs especially for young drivers.

The Minister also committed that officers from the Department of Transport and Main Roads and members of the Northern Road Safety Alliance will meet with local providers of driver education programs to ensure an effective road safety program.