Surf Coast Shire Council has adopted a five-year plan to improve road safety, while sharing the state and federal government goal of zero road fatalities and injuries by 2050.
At its November meeting, Council approved the Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2027, which aims to address the ongoing and emerging road safety issues over the next five years.
Surf Coast Shire Council Deputy Mayor Mike Bodsworth welcomed the strategy, saying it aligned with state and federal plans, as well as the Transport Accident Commission’s Safe System approach.
“All of the fatal road accidents within our shire during the past five years have occurred on high-speed regional and rural roads,” Cr Bodsworth said.
“Even one death is one too many. Road safety is a shared responsibility and ensuring we have suitable road safety infrastructure in place now and into the future is paramount to helping road users in the shire to get around safely.”
The newly adopted strategy reflects the shire’s growing, yet ageing population, as well as an increasing number of cyclists and tourist drivers.
It also takes into consideration the shire’s ageing road infrastructure, as well as the introduction of newer transport forms such as motorised bicycles, scooters and electric cars.
Throughout the Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan development, officers have held a number of engagement activities with the community, internal and external stakeholders and Council partners.
This engagement has steered the direction and outcomes within the strategy, with a focus on five key areas:
· Improving safety on high-risk roads
· Safety at and between intersections
· Vulnerable and unprotected road users including pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, older road users, children, young drivers and tourists
· Increasing liveability in our towns by making it safer for people to move around
· Supporting and enforcing safer driver behaviour.
“The strategy brings focus to how key and high priority roads can be used safely – not just by drivers but cyclists and pedestrians as well,” Cr Bodsworth said.
“We rely on attracting funding from state and federal governments to implement many of the initiatives and this strategy helps us make the case for this support.
“Ultimately, we all want road users to return home safely. This shared goal of zero deaths and injuries by 2050 is ambitious but not impossible and we are doing everything we can as a council to make sure we see this goal become a reality.”
