International tourists and road safety in Australia: developing a nationalresearch and management programme

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury death for internation al tourists. This makes road safety an important issue for tourism authorit ies. Unfortunately, as it is in other areas of tourist health, the common r esponse from the travel and tourism industry is to remain silent about this problem and to leave any mishaps in the hands of insurers. At the same tim e, but for different reasons, international tourists are not usually target ed for road safety initiatives by transport authorities. Given that there a re considerable 'hidden' costs associated with international tourists and m otor vehicle crashes, the topic should be of concern to both tourism and tr ansport groups. This paper examines issues concerned with driving in unfami liar surroundings for international visitors in Australia, and proposes a n ational research and management programme to guide policy and planning in t he area. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.