FIGHT RURAL ROAD DEATHS
TOP COP SAYS IT’S TIME TO ....
VICTORIA’S road policing boss has warned that “little mistakes” are killing people on our region’s country roads.
In the 12 months to Christmas, 13 people have died on roads in the Greater Geelong, Surf Coast and Otway areas with more and more deaths occuring on rural stretches.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Safety Doug Fryer said Geelong’s unique geographical layout made it a particularly risky area for inattentive drivers.
“What’s a little bit unique around the Greater Geelong re- gion is it’s the largest non-Melbourne CBD in the whole state but within 18km of getting out of the CBD of Geelong, you’re on rural high-speed country roads,” he said.
“We still see about 90 per cent of crashes have human error in them and some are very minor mistakes with fatal consequences.
“Little mistakes are killing people.”
His warning came as seven people were hospitalised after a two-car smash near Birregurra on Christmas Eve. Those killed on our roads in 2017 came from every walk of life – victims were aged from five to 85. All of them have left behind heartbroken loved ones.
Mr Fryer said it was important to remember that the road toll was not just numbers — it was people.
“No one wakes up in the morning and thinks they’re not going to make it home because of road trauma,” he said.
“What I ask of the community is prove the statistics wrong, do what you need to do to keep yourselves safe on the roads.”
The Christmas Eve crash at the intersection of ColacLorne Rd and Birregurra-Forrest Rd happened about 7pm.
Victoria Police spokesman Luke Zammit said it was believed a vehicle carrying five occupants was travelling east when it collided with a car travelling north.
“The five occupants of the first vehicle, three males and two females, were conveyed to hospital by road ambulance,” he said.
“The two occupants of the car, which rolled over, a 45year-old woman and a 12-yearold girl, were flown to hospital.”
Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman Lana Wilson said one woman was flown to The Alfred in a serious condition with spinal and hip injuries and a primary school-aged girl was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a serious condition with an ankle injury.
The others — four men and a woman aged in their 20s — were all taken to nearby hospitals in stable conditions with a range of injuries including hip, neck, abdominal and chest injuries.
Yesterday, paramedics were called to the Great Ocean Road near Lavers Hill after reports of a two-car head-on crash, about 4.15pm.
Six people aged between 18 and 60 sustained non-lifethreatening injuries.
Just days earlier a German tourist died and a Beijing woman was left fighting for life during separate crashes on Cape Otway Rd on the Surf Coast.
Two men were also treated for serious injuries after a crash on the Princes Highway at Colac on Saturday.