Lights on warning signs to be removed

THE Deans Marsh Lorne Road (DMLR) Safety Group has had some success towards one of its goals after five long years of campaigning.

The group has been lobbying about various road safety issues regarding not only Deans Marsh-Lorne Road but other roads in the Otways.

The “cyclists ahead” warning signs installed in late 2016 on the narrow, winding road are one of the group’s major concerns.

The signs (one at the bottom of the hill and one halfway up) are triggered by passing cyclists and go into standby mode for the time it takes for a cyclist to reach the next sign.

The signs are then activated by cars or motorbikes, warning them that there are cyclists on the climb.

The DMLR Safety Group does not support the installation of the signs – which were funded via a grant from the Amy Gillett Foundation – and argue the lights malfunction and are thus ignored by motorists.

On Wednesday last week, group member Juliet Beatty received an update from VicRoads stating the flashing light component of both signs would be removed that week, with the remaining holes taped over as an immediate step. The “cyclist ahead” part of the signs would remain in place until VicRoads had discussed the reason for deactivating the lights with local police and the Amy Gillett Foundation.

Ms Beatty said the update came “about two weeks after we were told there was no way they would remove them” and, although the result was in the group’s favour, she would remain cynical until the signs were gone.

The DMLR Safety Group has also made a submission to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the 2019 spike in deaths on
Victorian roads.

The reporting date for the inquiry has recently been extended to March 31, 2021.

In 2019, 263 people were killed on Victoria’s roads – 50 more than in 2018.

The terms of reference of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s inquiry include the driver drug and alcohol testing regime, speed enforcement measures and speed management police, smart phone use, road standards and the road asset maintenance regime, and road collision data collection.

For more information, head to parliament.vic.gov.au/eic-lc/inquiry/977.