Shire aims for no deaths on its roads by 2050

THE Surf Coast Shire has set an ambitious series of targets to improve road safety over the coming decades, with the aim of having zero road deaths by 2050.

Councillors adopted the Road Safety Strategy 2022-27, titled “Coasting Towards Zero”, at their meeting on Tuesday this week.

The strategy, which replaces the previous strategy, is intended to allow for the assessment, prioritisation and delivery of road safety improvement works at high risk safety locations within the shire’s road network for the next five years and into the future.

It aligns with state and federal strategies, as well as the Transport Accident Commission’s Safe System approach, and includes an action plan shaped by broad consultation in five key areas of focus:

• Improving safety on high-risk roads
• Safety at intersections and midblock (between intersections)
• Vulnerable and unprotected road users including pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, older road users, children, young drivers and tourists
• Increasing liveability in towns by making it safer for people to move around, and
• Supporting and enforcing safer driver behaviour.

Using the 2016-20 period as a benchmark, the strategy sets a vision of 25 per cent fewer people killed and 15 per cent fewer people seriously injured by 2027, 50 per cent fewer people killed and 30 per cent fewer people seriously injured by 2030, and zero people killed by 2050.

According to the strategy, there were 948 road crashes in the Surf Coast Shire between 2010 and November 2020.

Of this figure, 399 crashes resulted in people being fatally or seriously injured, with 32 people losing their lives as the result of a crash. There were also 1,317 people injured in crashes that did not require hospitalisation.

The officers’ report to councillors notes there is no budget allocated to deliver the action plan items within the strategy, but the shire “will continue to apply for external grant opportunities, review existing resources and submit business cases for consideration of future funding in council’s annual budget”.

“It is hoped that an increased number of future external grant applications will be successful when supported by this Strategy and Action Plan,” the report states.

In adopting the motion, councillors amended the strategy slightly, changing the mayor’s introduction to being from newly-elected mayor Cr Liz Pattison, and also reflecting that the shire’s population was now 37,623.

“Given our growing, ageing and seasonal population mix, road safety is a matter of high priority for the council,” Cr Gary Allen said.

“Given our limited resources, the effective targeting of these resources is a significant issue.”
He said community consultation for the strategy found 60 per cent of respondents identified rural roads as the highest priority, and 45 per cent listed the maintenance of rural roads in their top three priorities.

“I note that the maintenance of our roads and the safety of our reads is inextricably linked.”