Country road go-slow plan

80km/h zones for high-risk areas

VICTORIAN regional and rural roads deemed a high crash risk could have speed limits lowered to 80km/h after a parliamentary inquiry called for reform to help lower the road toll.

Identifying key unsafe country roads with low traffic numbers to reduce their speed was among the recommendations of the inquiry.

The state government has supported the proposal on roads for which upgrading infrastructure or installing barriers is not an option.

Roads with high traffic volumes would be considered for priority funding for their upgrades.

The Department of Transport will complete its Network Safety Plan over the next two years to identify roads that need improvements to infrastructure and those that can have their speed limits lowered.

Any proposed changes would then be put forward to the community for consultation.

“It is understood the community is concerned that reduced speed limits in rural and regional areas will result in increased travel times,” the government response said.

“The Victorian government will support any changes to policy with community education that highlights the systemic risk of speed and links to road trauma on low standard roads, while also addressing travel time concerns.”

RACV spokesman Andrew Scannell said a survey carried out by the organisation found the majority of respondents believed reducing speed limits was necessary to improving safety.

“As a safety advocate, RACV has made a commitment to promoting these findings – and providing them to government – and we very much welcome this review from the Victorian government,” Mr Scannell said.

More roads will have variable limits that change based on the conditions.

The government did not support a recommendation for different types of vehicles, such as motorcycles, being allowed to travel at different speeds to cars.

About 30 per cent of fatal crashes and 15 per cent of serious injuries following a smash across the state happen on lower volume rural roads with a speed of 100km/h.

A government spokeswoman said a “strong track record” in road safety had helped reduce the number of lives lost on Victorian roads and the number of shattered families left behind.

“Our road safety strategy builds on all we’ve achieved to date across safety policy, education, technology, infrastructure and vehicle safety, while laying the groundwork for future road safety innovation,” she said.

The road safety strategy 2021-30 aims to halve road deaths and significantly reduce serious injuries.