- Minister for Road Safety and the TAC
- Minister for Roads
Residents from Portland and surrounding towns in Western Victoria will share their ideas and thoughts on how to make local roads safer at tonight’s regional road safety forum.
It has been a devastating year to date on Victoria’s roads, with 185 deaths, compared with 124 at the same time last year – an increase of 49%.
Tragically, the majority of these deaths have occurred on regional roads, where 106 people have died.
Last year, eight people died on roads in the region and a further 86 people were seriously injured.
So far this year, 12 people have died on the roads in Corangamite, Glenelg, Moyne, Southern Grampians, Warrnambool and West Wimmera.
The Portland forum will be attended by road safety experts and state and local government representatives, the event has been designed to ensure all who attend will have ample opportunity to have their say.
In addition to looking at local and regional road safety issues raised by attendees, the forums will invite the community to comment on the four areas that make up the Andrews Labor Government’s Towards Zero strategy: safer people, roads, vehicles and speeds.
The first four of the eight forums were held in Ballarat, Marysville, Shepparton, Sale and Geelong with more than 80 people sharing the experiences and knowledge of their local roads at each forum.
The forums follow the Melbourne Road Safety Summit in May, where road safety experts and community leaders gathered to discuss what more could be done to address the horror start to the year on Victoria’s roads.
The Labor Government will consider the ideas from the summit and forums as part of the development of the next Victorian road safety strategy.
For more information, visit tac.vic.gov.au/regional-road-safety-forum
As noted by Minister for Roads, Road Safety and TAC Jaala Pulford
“It’s been a heartbreaking year so far on our regional and rural roads and we know it’s regional Victorians dying on these roads, with more than two thirds of people killed on country Victorian roads within 30km of their home.”
“We want to look at the reasons why country people are over represented in the road toll and how we can prevent this senseless loss of life.”
As noted by Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney
“We want to hear from the Portland community about what more can be done to stop people dying or being seriously injured on the roads they drive every day.”
