With Motoring Editor Olga de Moeller on annual leave, The West Australian's Stephen Scourfield has slid into the driver's seat for a fortnight. He's using the opportunity to share a slightly belated set of New Year's resolutions for Australian motorists, penned on Saturday, 10 January 2026. His personal pledges focus on safety, patience, and changing the culture on our roads.
Building a Team Mentality on the Road
Scourfield's first and foremost resolution is to continue advocating for 'Team Driving'. This concept asks drivers to be fully aware of all vehicles within a 25-metre radius and to consider them part of a team, not as competitors. "Imagine your mum's in the little i30 and your brother is in the Prado," he suggests. The idea is to foster a cooperative spirit where drivers let each other in and look out for one another, with the shared goal of everyone arriving safely and without stress.
He believes this mindset shift could be life-changing and potentially life-saving.
Choosing Battles: Distractions and Noise
Another resolution involves choosing his battles. He vows to stop moaning about the proliferation of bright digital billboards designed to catch a driver's eye, despite the clear warnings from the Australian Road Safety Foundation. The foundation identifies driver distraction as a leading cause of accidents in Australia, contributing to thousands of injuries and deaths yearly, with visual distractions being a key culprit.
Similarly, he resolves to cease complaining about excessively noisy motorcycles, even while acknowledging the existence of Australian Design Rule ADR83/00. This rule sets noise limits for vehicles, requiring road-going bikes from 1984 onward to meet drive-by limits around 94dB. Scourfield notes the apparent contradiction that allows riders to remove factory mufflers and fit louder aftermarket replacements.
Personal Pledges for Practical Safety
Scourfield's list includes several specific, actionable promises based on common sense and observed dangers:
He will never stop in the right lane at traffic lights and only indicate to turn right after they turn green.
He will avoid making a right-hand turn onto Stirling Highway from Princes Street in Mosman Park, heading towards Fremantle. Having witnessed numerous crashes and near-misses there, he describes it as his "horror-nightmare-scenario" for a side-on T-bone collision. He'd rather turn left and navigate around the block.
While he admits he won't perfectly uphold a resolution to always wear full motorcycle safety gear, he commits to patiently explaining to others that their car's "binging and bonging" are vital safety system warnings, not nuisances.
He also pledges to always allow someone to film him if they ask while he's changing a flat tyre, recalling a recent encounter with a young woman who thought only roadside patrol personnel were permitted to do so.
The Impact of Music and Smart Infrastructure
Scourfield will continue to speak out against drivers playing loud, aggressive music. He cites a scholarly meta-analysis of 19 studies from high-income countries, which concluded that high and medium volume music can increase average driving speed and adversely affect driving. The research noted that calmer music at lower volumes could, conversely, improve safety.
Finally, in a concession to progress, he resolves to accept that the new Smart Mitchell Freeway Southbound between Hester Avenue and Vincent Street is, in its own way, smart. He compares it to a driver who remembers to use mirrors and indicators—a basic but essential form of intelligence on the road.
