The Victorian Government is taking action to ensure less families experience the heartbreak of road trauma, investing in the state’s first Road Safety Action Plan so more Victorians make it home safely every day.
The plan will focus on cohorts of Victorians who either experience or cause harm on our roads, including dangerous drivers, people who work on the roads, and vulnerable groups like young people, motorcyclists, pedestrians and the elderly.
The Victorian Budget 2021/22 invests $385.8 million over four years to deliver the plan through new safety infrastructure, strategies to increase public awareness and innovative programs to protect our most vulnerable road users.
Frequent and high-risk offenders will be targeted through reviews of drink and drug driving laws and penalties, the development of new vehicle immobilising technologies, and new approaches to address the root causes of high-risk traffic offending.
The action plan will see 35 additional speed and red-light cameras installed at high-risk intersections and two new networks of cameras on freeways to deter dangerous driving like speeding – which contributes to 30 per cent of fatal crashes on Victorian roads.
The plan will includes initiatives to protect and increase public awareness of those at highest risk on our roads – like food delivery riders, roadside workers, cyclists and pedestrians, while work to keep Victorian kids safe around schools will continue, with $41.1 million to support the School Crossing Supervisor Program for the next two years.
The Victorian Government is also working in partnership with the Commonwealth to deliver better road safety infrastructure across Melbourne and regional Victoria – with more road sealing, rumble strips, electronic speed sign upgrades and safety barriers to make every journey safer.
The launch of the plan coincides with the end of National Road Safety Week, recognising the impact road trauma has on too many families and communities every day – with landmarks and bridges across Victoria lit up in yellow throughout the week and drivers travelling with their headlights on all day to shine a light on road safety.
Victoria’s first Road Safety Action Plan is being delivered under the new Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, which sets ambitious targets to halve road deaths and significantly reduce serious injuries by 2030 and sets the state on a path to zero road deaths by 2050.
Source: Vic Government