Shire on top in state’s toll

By Tania Martin
YARRA Ranges Shire has recorded its worst road toll in more than eight years and has been ranked the most dangerous place in the state for fatalities.
Figures released by the Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) last week showed the shire lost more than 15 people on its roads last year.
It narrowly beat East Gippsland Shire on 14, and the cities of Casey and Greater Geelong both lost 10 people.
This comes as Victoria recorded its lowest road toll since 1952 with 295 deaths.
However, Victoria Police’s Deputy Roads Commissioner Ken Lay said it was still not acceptable.
He believes many people felt it was tolerable as long as it was under 300.
“Put simply, it’s not,” Mr Lay said.
“I’m grateful for the hard work of the police members and for the contributions made by TAC and VicRoads, but sneaking in under 300 is nothing to celebrate about.”
Yarra Ranges Traffic Management Unit’s Acting Sergeant Graeme Rust said last year’s toll had been the highest since 2001.
The toll has been rising in the shire since then with 16 in 2001, 7 in 2002, 11 in 2003, 12 in 2004, 13 in 2005-06, 9 in 2007 and 13 in 2008.
Acting Sgt Rust said the major contributing factor this year had been vehicles running off the road into trees or poles.
He warns that drivers need to watch out for trees and take more care.
“They need to drive to the conditions of the road and pull over if they are tired,” Acting Sgt Rust said.
“We continue to harp on it but we do have a lot of trees close to the road and drowsiness is a bad accident that could turn fatal.
Acting Sgt Rust said police would continue to target drink driving, hood behaviour and excessive speed this year.
“We have high volumes of traffic on our major arterials where most of our accidents occur and we will be doing a lot of enforcement on those roads,” he said.
“We will be out early in the morning and late at night targeting drink driving and speeders.”
Mr Lay said police would continue to enforce the road laws more than ever as they worked towards lowering the toll even further.
“In 2010, police will use radar equipment, booze and drugs buses, speed cameras and every other piece of available equipment to cut the number of people needlessly dying on Victorian roads,” he said. But Mr Lay said in the end, it was the road users responsibility to reduce the toll.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing about repeat drink drivers and people receiving multiple tickets for speeding offences,” he said.
“If motorists don’t wake up to themselves, they may not be around to see in 2011.