Towards zero on the roads in Oz

In America, drivers don't try to kill other drivers. In Australia, drivers try not to kill other drivers.After almost three months here, I've decided that this difference in attitudes is the biggest thing that separates these two cultures.America was built on a culture of individualism, sometimes called "rugged individualism."  In Australia, society is characterized by a much greater degree of communitarianism.The place of traffic fatalities in the two countries provides a nice example.There are about 32,000 traffic-related fatalities in the US per year, about 10 per 100,000 population.  I think if you were to ask most American drivers about this figure, they would probably answer, "These things happen."  There is virtually no concern in the general population about these deaths, and there is certainly little or no evidence that road dangers influence the manner in which people drive.In Australia, there are about 1200 deaths per year, or about 5 per 100,000 population.A two-fold difference is pretty significant, and Australia would certainly be entitled to rest on its laurels.  But folks here understand that there is no virtue in benchmarking yourself to a substandard norm.  Instead, as illustrated by the a program of the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, they've set an objective of zero.  The agency explains:At the heart of Towards Zero is the belief that human health is paramount to all else. It acknowledges that, as people, we all make...
Source: Not running a hospital - Category: Hospital Management Source Type: blogs