Rural roads safety drive

MOST fatalities on regional Victorian roads last year were drivers in their local area, alarming data shows.

The latest road trauma data revealed almost three-quarters of the 148 people killed on rural roads last year died close to their home address.

Sixteen people were killed on Geelong roads in 2019, the highest number since 2016. The year’s final fatal crash was at Moorabool on New Year’s Eve, a collision that claimed the life of North Geelong mother Amanda Primmer.

Announcing a series of new measures to cut the surging road toll, acting Roads and Road Safety Minister Jacinta Allan urged regional Victorians to take extra care on the roads this year.

“Every death on our roads is an unacceptable and preventable tragedy and regional Victorians remain overrepresented in lives lost,” Ms Allan said.

“That’s why we’re cracking down on dangerous driving, continuing our massive investment in lifesaving road safety infrastructure and working on Victoria’s next road safety strategy.”

According to the data, runoff-road and head-on crashes resulted in 94 fatalities, while 101 people were killed in highspeed zones.

The region’s 16 fatalities occurred at: Balliang (2), Lara (1), Moorabool (1), Corio (1), Norlane (1), North Geelong (6), Manifold Heights (1), Barwon Heads (1) and Mannerim (2).

In those cases, four involved pedestrians, one involved a car running off a straight road, and six occurred either driving in the same or adjacent direction.

The State Government has declared more than 340km of safety barriers will be installed on high-risk roads — in addition to the 2300km already in place — to help prevent head-on and run-off crashes.

Other planned measures to crack down on crashes include the installation of 1600km of rumble strip line-marking across the state to alert drivers if they veer out of their lane, and Side Road Activated Speed technology installed at high-risk sites. The system detects approaching crossroad traffic and switches on signs to reduce the speed limit.

It is understood 117 rural intersections will be made safer under the safety rollout.

Head of Road Safety Victoria Robyn Seymour said data showed locals were most at risk of regional fatalities.

“There’s a misconception that crashes happen on country roads because the driver isn’t familiar with the area, but the tragic reality is that in most cases, it’s local people dying on roads near their home,” Ms Seymour said.

THE TRAGIC REALITY IS THAT IN MOST CASES, IT’S LOCAL PEOPLE DYING ON ROADS NEAR THEIR HOME.” ROAD SAFETY VICTORIA’S ROBYN SEYMOUR