Wyndham council has released the Road Safety Strategy 2022-2030, which seeks to ensure that residents who travel on municipality roads roads and paths will arrive safely at their destination.
The strategy, adopted at a council meeting on Tuesday, September 27, includes an action plan for the next 10 years that aims to reduce the likelihood of transport-related fatalities and serious injury.
Wyndham council Mayor Peter Maynard said the four key objectives of the strategy included a timeline to that works to reduce the number of people seriously injured on Wyndham’s roads by 2030.
These include providing safe roads which are built and maintained to minimise risk of crashes, encouraging road users to travel at safe speeds, a individual responsibility to exercise care and attention and be safe people and the use of safe vehicles.
“Over the five years between July 2014 and June 2019, 790 people were seriously injured, and 42 people lost their lives on roads in Wyndham,” he said.
“We need to reduce the number of lives lost on our roads within the next 10 years and our strategy includes a range of initiatives that creates a culture of safety.”
A report released by council found fatal and serious injury crashes are likely to occur where high volumes of traffic move at high speeds, such as arterial roads and intersections and where there are significant movements of motor vehicles in close proximity to pedestrians and cyclists.
By speed limit, fatal and serious injuries were most likely to occur in a 60km/h zone accounting for 252 out of 724 incidents, followed by 50km/h and 80km/h areas with 108 and 99 recorded crashes respectively.
Fatalities and serious injury least commonly occurred in 30km/h zones, with three recorded incidents, and 110km/h and 90km/h recorded no known instances of incidents.
Wyndham’s community safety portfolio holder Cr Susan McIntyre welcomed the strategy, stating all residents had a role to play in reducing road trauma.
“By working together, we can all make a positive difference improving road safety and ensuring our community can travel safely and in a healthy and sustainable manner,” she said.
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