Victorians are being asked to take extra care on the roads these school holidays after a tragic start to the year.
Already in 2019 90 people have died on Victoria’s roads, with 59 of those deaths happening in regional areas across Victoria. This time in 2018 there had been 58 deaths across Victoria, with 31 lives lost on regional roads.
Victorian Minister for Roads and Minister for Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford joined Transport Accident Commission CEO Joe Calafiore to call on Victorians to help put a stop to this tragic period and drive safely during the school holidays.
Victoria is set for a busy April 2019 on the roads, with two weeks of school holidays followed by an Easter break and ANZAC Day. All road users are being urged to make safe choices on the road throughout the month.
In 2018 Victoria recorded its lowest ever number road deaths in a calendar year, but 2019 has already shown that there is no room for complacency.
Regional roads and country people are still over-represented in road deaths and this is why the Victorian Government is continuing to invest in road safety infrastructure on the state’s highest-risk roads.
Since 2016, the Victorian Government has been upgrading the safety of 20 high-risk regional roads as part of the $1.4-billion Towards Zero Action Plan.
In February 2019 the Government announced safety upgrades to another sixteen high-risk roads across the state, thanks to a further $340-million investment. This includes eight roads in regional Victoria.
In an immediate bid to curb the trauma on our roads, Victoria Police last week launched Operation Kinetic – a 10-week operation funded by the TAC which will see 300 additional road policing shifts across Victoria, with a focus on regional areas.
Around two thirds of people who die in crashes on regional roads are people who live in regional Victoria – country people die on country roads.
Source: Vic Government