Blood on their hands if road funding cut

THE number of lives lost on Victorian roads so far this year stands at 213, down 2.3 per cent for the same period last year when there had been 218 deaths, but 2023 finished with the highest road toll in 15 years, at 296.

Regrettably, we’re still in sight of that awful number.

Rural roads have accounted for 108 of those deaths so far, down 13 per cent on the same time last year but still above the five-year average of 102 for this time of the year.

Rural roads tend to be the location for more road accidents than cities, despite the lower population, for a number of reasons, including:

• Lack of safety infrastructure such as barriers, adequate lighting, or warning signs.

• Limited emergency services.

• Weather conditions causing road quality to deteriorate more quickly.

• Sharp curves, poor visibility and less predictable conditions including wildlife on roads.

• Rural areas often require longer travel distances, leading to driver fatigue.

• Lack of alternative transport.

Drink driving, drug driving and distractions including mobile phones are also a factor.

Where any of these factors can be controlled, whether it’s by adjusting your own driver behaviour, police presence and enforcement, public education, improvement to road conditions and the introduction of preventative measures including traffic lights, roundabouts and side-road activation signs; attention to these measures must be taken very seriously.

Because one life saved, means avoiding the unimaginable grief and loss that fatal collisions create.

Which is why it is so alarming to hear that the State Government has been skimming off Federal funds meant to fix black spots across the state to feed the $41 billion in blowouts on mega-projects in the city.

According to Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Danny O’Brien, the Member for Gippsland South, a Ministerial brief has confirmed the government has skimmed 8.5 per cent off a Federal Black Spots Funding Program that was meant to improve safety on regional roads.

It follows a government survey last year which found that 91 per cent of roads were in a “poor” or “very poor” state.

“The roads maintenance budget is 16 per cent less than it was in 2020 and the amount of resurfacing works this year will drop by two-thirds, condemning our roads to a worse state in the future,” said Mr O’Brien.

As much as we are warned to “drive to the conditions”, poorly maintained roads lead directly to deaths on our roads which is why government departments can’t simply spend like drunken sailors without counting the cost.

If there’s one more death on rural roads this year as a result of cuts to funding, it’s too high a price to pay for government waste and mismanagement.