Joining forces to make regional roads safer

Road safety on regional roads is well and truly in the spotlight with the unveiling of the Get Home Safe Foundation, with the sole aim of creating effective and fully self-governing alliances in Australia’s regions that could transform how our country roads are shaped in the future.

The vision is that all local councils, along with local federal and state MPs, will see road safety strategies designed by region, rather than by individual towns.

For many decades our regional roads have been our most dangerous, emphasised by the statistics that show between 2017-2021 67 per cent of road users killed or seriously injured were from regional areas.

Historically, apart from occasional Government and SAPOL campaigns, rural communities have relied on volunteer Community Road Safety Groups to devise road safety initiatives for their areas and these groups have typically been formed by families who lost loved ones.

Due to lack of support, lack of funds and lack of mentorship from road safety stakeholders, Volunteer Community Road Safety Group numbers have declined rapidly during the last decade with regions such as the Limestone Coast losing all of its groups.

And the Limestone Coast has been earmarked as the first region the foundation will work alongside – the initiative having support from both Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Regional Roads and Limestone Coast local Ben Hood MLC and Federal member for Barker Tony Pasin.

The Get Home Safe Foundation is being launched on Thursday, November 21, at Mount Gambier’s Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre with a 10am-12noon forum for council representative before all residents, emergency services, businesses and stakeholders are invited to the open forum that will commence at 2pm.

Mr Hood is co-chairing the Mount Gambier forums with Get Home Safe Foundation president Darren Davis..

“Despite only one in three South Australians calling our regions home, the fact that two-thirds of road deaths have occurred in country SA is alarming and requires a serious rethink of our road safety priorities,” he said. “Governments demand that our cars are roadworthy so it is only right that South Australians should demand that our roads are carworthy.

“All levels of government need to be involved in promoting road safety, and with the formation of the inaugural Regional Road Safety Alliance, regional communities will be empowered to contribute to this shared cause.

“I look forward to joining with Darren Davis and the Get Home Safe Foundation to help promote safer driving and improved roads to ensure that all drivers, young and old, arrive alive at their destination.”

Mr Davis, who launched the foundation in 2018, was looking forward to bringing his concept to the region and he looks to encourage the spirit of collaboration in the road safety space in the hope that many minds working together will be more effective and will create safer roads.

“Local councils, local businesses, local emergency services, local stakeholders and residents will be able to work together to find local solutions to their sickening road toll,” Mr Davis said. “They know the roads, they know the issues, so let’s work with them to make their roads safer for all families.”

Mr Pasin was also optimistic about the impact the foundation would have in the Limestone Coast.

“I painfully understand the devastation caused in my regional electorate of Barker by the high road toll,” he said.

“When we hear the statistics, they are more than a number. Each one is a family member, a friend, a work colleague or school mate.

“We can all work together on this issue. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility.

“Our local communities working together can help to create a local culture of road safety.

“Long term cultural change is needed. Local community action can be pivotal to reducing the number of lives lost on our roads.”