Inquiry reveals alarming road safety risks for vulnerable users

AN INQUIRY by the Victorian Parliament’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee has uncovered significant changes in road safety behaviours during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, posing increased risks to vulnerable road users across Victoria.

The inquiry, chaired by Bellarine MP Alison Marchant, examined the impact of behavioural changes on vulnerable groups such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, children aged seven and under, older adults, and mobility device users.

The committee’s final report, tabled on May 1, made 56 recommendations.

These include creating a road user hierarchy to prioritise the safety of vulnerable road users, ensuring main roads have pedestrian crossings near schools, shops, and public transport stops, prioritising road treatments in regional areas, and improving road safety data.

Ms Marchant said the statistics were alarming and highlighted the human cost behind the numbers.

“Each of these lives lost has unjustifiably robbed a person of their potential.

“They have left dreams unfilled and created a lasting impact on their family, their friends and their community.

“We also need to acknowledge that it is not just fatalities though, as there are countless others who have been seriously injured on our roads and that has impacted their lives and the loved ones around them, as they are changed forever.”

The committee also called for more flexibility in speed zoning to decrease suburban rat running and reduce speeds around schools and arterial roads with high activity. Regular crossings linked to public transport stops, activity centres, and schools on arterial roads are essential for pedestrian safety.

To improve road safety in regional areas, the committee highlighted the need for prioritised road treatments and a targeted campaign to encourage safer behaviours on regional roads.

The inquiry underscored the difficulty in changing road users’ behaviour, noting that educational campaigns alone were insufficient.

“We also learned that it is not really easy to change people’s behaviour by simply just educating and urging them to be more responsible,” Ms Marchant said.

“Awareness is absolutely important, but complementary to that we do need some approaches that look at enforcement, infrastructure that separates those vulnerable road users from motor vehicles and guidance to motorists to really slow down in areas where there are high volumes of particularly bike riders and pedestrians.”