Following the release of the AAA’s progress report on the National Road Safety Strategy, Australia’s peak motor industry body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, has again thrown its support behind calls to eliminate both vehicle tariffs and the luxury car tax to make vehicles more affordable.
The FCAI’s Chief Executive Tony Weber said that the lack of progress against the 33 safety performance indicators in The National Road Safety Strategy Progress Report was of grave concern. Especially, when December was such a horrendous month on our roads, our worst in six years and 2017 saw almost 1300 deaths from road crashes in Australia.
Mr Weber said, “we know that newer cars have better safety technology and are more likely to assist drivers in preventing accidents. We therefore need to invest in safety and reduce the age of the fleet, a fleet which has aged since the inception of the Road Strategy”.
“The Government raises over $1billion a year from the tariff and luxury car tax on new vehicles, money that could and should be spent on safety features, such as autonomous emergency breaking and lane keeping assistance’.
Any pragmatic analyses would show that there is no cost to the Budget from this measure, as the revenue foregone would be recouped from reduced health costs and improved productivity. What is the cost of months of hospitalisation or worse, what is the cost to society from the death of a young person? Not to mention the heart ache and pain for the families and friends of these people. Mr Weber said that this is the sad reality for far too many Australians.
“Any steps that help place the latest safety technologies in the hands of more motorists should be encouraged. Removing the tariff and luxury car tax will provide an immediate incentive to both private buyers and fleets to invest in safety technology”.
For more information, contact:
FCAI
02 6247 3811
[email protected]