Kindness Travels: Time to bring back the ‘West Aussie wave’ on our roads

It’s a time-honoured tradition on many country roads that is sadly verging on extinction in the city — the simple wave of acknowledgement to fellow drivers.

But a new road safety campaign, launched yesterday, aims to once again make the friendly gesture a staple of driver etiquette and return a sense of calm and courtesy to vehicles across WA.

Regardless of what they drive — car, motorbike, caravan or bicycle — road users are being encouraged to lift a hand in response to an act of kindness or as a display of contrition after making a mistake.

The State Government has joined forces with Seven West Media and other media outlets to promote the Kindness Travels message and bring back the West Aussie wave.

Much-loved 7NEWS Perth presenters Rick Ardon, Susannah Carr and Angela Tsun have lent their famous faces to the initiative — along with perennial favourite Fat Cat.

Timed to coincide with the start of the WA Day long weekend when tens of thousands of Western Australians are expected to hit the tarmac —-and double demerits will be in force — Police and Road Safety Minister Michelle Roberts said it aimed to reduce serious and fatal crashes, some of which are caused by impatience and road rage.

“Take a different attitude to your fellow drivers on the road and show them some courtesy. Give them a wave — it costs nothing,” Ms Roberts said.

Two-thirds of Western Australians report finding themselves on the receiving end of road rage and in the age of the dashcam, it feels like shocking vision of assaults and violent verbal abuse goes viral on a weekly basis.

Just last week, Broome’s Shaun Ehrin Manado pleaded guilty to deliberately ramming another vehicle multiple times, causing it to flip on a busy street in a road rage-motivated attack last November.

A study last year of aggressive driving behaviour by the Monash University Accident Research Centre found nearly one-in-five Australians admitted to having chased a fellow driver when angry — with the figure doubling to 36 per cent among males aged 22 to 39.

Report author Amanda Stephens, a Research Fellow at MUARC, said encouraging drivers to wave at each other had “a lot of promise” as a means to cut down on road rage.

“One thing we know is that drivers tend to get angry when they think other drivers are being discourteous, or rude or hostile towards them,” Dr Stephens said.

“Sometimes that can actually be a misunderstanding. A driver might not have deliberately cut in front of someone or braked very quickly just to annoy the person behind them but it can be misconstrued.

“Sometimes even the absence of a wave is enough to annoy drivers too — if you let someone in and they don’t thank you. So I think (the campaign) really taps into one of the fundamental reasons why drivers get upset on the road.

“I think there’s a culture at the moment where drivers do tend to think other drivers lack courtesy and that leads to anger and sometimes aggression.”

Ms Roberts said that there was never any justification for violence or intimidation when behind the wheel.

“Unfortunately, some of these incidents can escalate out of control with tragic consequences,” she said.

“I think it’s really important to ask people to get a bit of a grip and recognise that with thousands of kilometres of road and tens of thousands of road users, not everyone is going to be happy all the time and that people are going to make mistakes. But if we have patience and understanding, we’re all more likely to survive the mistakes.”

A Road Safety Commission study last year found 63 per cent of respondents admitted to getting annoyed or frustrated with other motorists.

“I’ve heard stories of how aggressive behaviour on the roads can be unsettling for the person on the receiving end and that the consequences of that behaviour can be long lasting,” Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said.

“I encourage everyone to get behind this campaign as courtesy plays a vital role in reducing the risk of crashes on our roads.

“It is a message that has extra importance this long weekend as thousands of Western Australians take to the roads following the relaxation of restrictions.”

Double demerits will be in force from today until the end of Monday.