Recent Hume City Council road accident statistics show that casualty crashes within the City have fallen to a five year low, plummeting to 319 in 2006/2007 – down from around
500 casualty crashes in 2002/2003.
Casualty crash statistics are vehicle accidents where one or more people suffer minor injuries that require medical treatment, receive serious injuries or are killed.
Research has shown that over the past five years the number of casualty crashes on local, Council managed roads, and arterials managed by VicRoads, has fallen by more than 35 per cent.
The reduction in crashes on local roads can be largely attributed to a suite of road safety improvements, including the installation of speed humps, roundabouts and traffic signals, road duplications, widening of roads and resurfacing roads, as well as Council’s annual driver education awareness campaigns.
Hume Mayor, Councillor Mohamad Abbouche, said that the results are excellent and show that Council’s road safety improvements are making a difference.
“While it is clear that our investment into road improvements is reducing the number
of road casualty crashes in Hume, more still needs to be done,” he said.
This year, Hume City Council is boosting its funding for road improvements, spending $11.5 million repairing and resurfacing roads and installing traffic management devices such as roundabouts, road cushions, road humps, line markings, splitter islands and pedestrian signals.
To improve safety for motorcyclists, Council has also recently installed a number of Super Flexi Poles in place of regular poles at two key black spots in Hume. Super Flexi Poles are designed to absorb impact upon collision to prevent injuries to drivers and motorcycle riders.
Council’s role extends to supporting students and young drivers with education, learning opportunities and funding through its annual Hume Road Safety Grants. This year, Council has contributed a total of $18,500 to local schools to run the comprehensive ‘Fit To Drive’ program for
senior students.
“These workshops equip students in Year 11 with a range of skills to help them make positive decisions about road safety as a driver or passenger,” Mayor Abbouche said. “We also encourage schools to incorporate a VicRoads ‘Keys Please’ session for
Year 10s, emphasising that learners need 120 hours of supervised driving practice to gain sufficient skills to keep them safe on the road.
“Road education and awareness programs such as these are about providing young people in Hume with safe driving skills before they get their licence, with the main aim of preventing driving fatalities and creating a safe and healthy Hume City.”
Council will continue to lobby Government for funding to improve safety on VicRoads managed arterial roads.
For further information contact John Monaghan, Council’s Manager Infrastructure Planning, on (03) 9205 2200.
