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Football and netball clubs throughout Ballarat will join clubs from across Victoria to show their support for road safety in the inaugural Towards Zero round next month.

Football captains will wear a zero on their jumpers while netballers and junior players don Towards Zero socks as part of the round, supporting the Andrew’s Labor Government’s work to reduce the road toll.

Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford was today presented with a Rokewood-Corindhap Football and Netball Club ‘zero’ jersey by the club’s coach and players.

The club, based in the small town of Rokewood, was deeply affected by road trauma in March this year when a club supporter died in a crash on a local road. With many players and supporters travelling long distances to get to games, the club is passionate about road safety.

The round is part of the Transport Accident Commission’s partnership with AFL Victoria, will involve 1000 clubs and promote road safety to the almost 250,000 people involved in grassroots regional and metropolitan football and netball clubs.

It has been a terrible first of half of the year on the state’s roads, particularly in regional areas. Of the 156 deaths in the first six months of the year, 95 have happened on regional roads, compared with 52 at the same time last year.

The over-representation of regional Victorians in road trauma will be the focus of the Toward Zero Regional Road Safety Forum at the Ballarat Regional Soccer facility tonight – the first of eight forums to be held across regional Victoria from July to September.

The forums will see road safety experts, local government and community leaders join community members to look at the reasons behind the increase in country road deaths and discuss local and regional road safety issues.

As stated by Minister for Roads, Road safety and TAC Jaala Pulford

“Grassroots football and netball clubs are the lifeblood of their communities and are hit particularly hard when a community member’s life is lost on the road.”

“We are thrilled at the level of support the clubs have shown for the Toward Zero round, especially given their ability to influence the many people involved in local football and netball across the state.”

As stated by Transport Accident Commission acting Chief Executive Officer Bruce Crossett

“This round is putting road safety at the fore and we’re asking everyone to prioritise safety, play their part and to make sure every journey is a safe one.”