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Clip description
Psychologist Hugh Mackay talks about the fact that society is quite prepared to hand young people a powerful machine that can kill, when they are still in their young adult stage of risk-taking.
Curator’s notes
The black-and-white presentation is yet another factor contributing to the gloomy feel of this debate. Hugh Mackay’s dark hair and full dark beard add to the overall sombre presentation. However, what he has to say is really important. He reminds us that we have to change human nature at the same time that we add safety features to our vehicles. He notes that most people feel aggressive, emotional, stressed and hurried nearly all the time, especially while driving, and these are contributing factors to the road accident rate. As the others point out, what we have in Australia is a trade-off between the cheapness of cars and the devices on offer to make them safer, while society’s demand for freedom and mobility must be set against various licensing restrictions.
The debate is handled by Four Corners journalist Jim Downes, who specialises in motor and air transport programs. The group brought together represents some of the key industry movers and shakers, although there are probably too many of them and the debate very quickly becomes too broad. It’s tempting to wonder whether Peter Wherrett would have probed and provoked the group by following up some of the leads, instead of allowing each guest to grandstand and defend their particular patch.
