Citation

Harrison WA, Tapsas D. Proc. Australas. Road Safety Res. Policing Educ. Conf. 2007; 11.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, copyright holder varies, Publisher Monash University)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Victoria has a large number of people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and an active intake of new arrivals from developing countries. There is some international evidence that members of CALD communities have a higher risk of involvement in crashes in their new country. This is especially so for new arrivals from less-motorised countries. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of the road safety needs of CALD community members in Victoria and the current state of program activity in this area. The results indicate that CALD community members face significant road use challenges in Victoria, including accessing the licensing system, obtaining experience and training to enable them to obtain a licence and drive safely, and understanding the regulatory framework for driving in Victoria. There are few programs available to assist CALD community members, and those that are conducted are poorly funded and are developed without significant input from road safety experts. In addition to seeking information from relevant organisations, this study drew on road safety and public health research literature to make recommendations about future directions. A key recommendation was that road safety programs for CALD community members would benefit from the development of a more-strategic approach.