WIRES SAVE LIVES
TAC PRAISE FOR CONTROVERSIAL NEW BARRIERS TAKING OVER VIC’S ROADS
WIRE safety barriers are saving countless lives on our roads each year, the Transport Accident Commission says.
TAC road safety specialist David Young said each of the 28 drivers who have crashed into wire safety barriers along Portarlington Rd this year, could easily have been fatalities were it not for the safety wires.
WIRE safety barriers are saving countless lives on our roads each year, says the Transport Accident Commission.
TAC road safety specialist David Young said each of the 28 drivers who have crashed into wire safety barriers along Portarlington Road this year, could easily have been fatalities were it not for the safety wires.
More than 250 distracted drivers hit wire safety barriers, which collapse and stretch on impact, across the region last year.
“Each time one of these flexible safety barriers are hit, that’s potentially another life saved or a serious injury avoided,” Mr Young said.
Almost 300kms of wire safety barriers are planned across the state with the rollout to include: 22KMS along the Great Ocean Road between Bellbrae and Anglesea; 41KMS on Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Rd; 43KMS on the Princes Highway between Little River and Corio; and 28KMS on the Geelong Ring Road from Corio to Waurn Ponds.
Last year 20 of the 25 lives lost on roads in the Barwon south region were a result of a vehicle veering out of its lane.
Ten people died in singlevehicle crashes and another 10 deaths occurred in head-on collisions across the region.
Torquay driver Tayla Stevens said she would have been killed or seriously injured if wire ropes barriers did not stop her from colliding with another car on the Western Highway near Sunshine last year.
“If the barriers weren’t there I definitely would’ve col- lided with someone — I most likely would not have survived, and possibly could have killed someone,” Ms Stevens said.
“(The barriers) have saved my life and someone else’s most definitely. They do take a lot of force and they are there to keep you safe in your car.”
But many motorists and emergency services volunteers have questioned the government’s roll out of barriers.
And motorbike lobby spokesman Damien Codognotto, of Independent Riders Group, said up to 1000 motorists, including many from Geelong, would protest outside Parliament House today against the multi-million dollar spend on barriers.
“The government has gone mad with wire rope,” Mr Codognotto said. He said motorists wanted the government to in-
“If the barriers weren’t there I definitely would’ve collided with someone — I most likely would not have survived, and possibly could have killed someone.” — TAYLA STEVENS (pictured)
stead focus on resurfacing country roads and eliminating dangerous potholes.
In March, Barrabool CFA captain Noel Larcombe said a review of the wire barriers along the Princes Highway west of Geelong was needed.
“Where they overlap each other and the gaps are not wide enough to get emergency vehicles through in certain places,” Mr Larcombe said.
Mr Codognotto expected the rally to be emotionally-fuelled with many protesters travelling from communities affected by the weekend’s horror road toll. Eight people were killed on rural roads in Victoria over the weekend, while an 18year-old Drysdale man remains in a critical but stable condition after he sustained life-threatening injuries when the car he was travelling in smashed into a tree.
But the TAC’s Mr Young said crashes into wire barriers along Portarlington Road is a “scary reminder” of their ability to prevent death and serious injury.
“Crashes involving vehicles leaving their lane were overwhelmingly the leading cause of deaths on roads in this region last year,” Mr Young said.
“Barriers have shown to reduce run-off-road crashes by 85 per cent which is why we and VicRoads have prioritised the roll out of barriers along high-risk roads across Geelong and the broader region.”
VicRoads Safe System Road Infrastructure program director Bryan Sherritt said the barriers saved lives.
“The barriers work by absorbing the force of a crash and bringing the car to a gradual stop – and in many cases the driver is able to walk away, instead of being seriously injured or even killed,” Mr Sherritt said.