Western Victoria Region
Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (14:12): (971) My question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. An RACV survey published today finds Victorians more worried than ever by the state of our roads. The number rating potholes and poor services as the biggest safety risk leapt to 64 per cent, double the number worried by dangerous driver behaviour. It is no surprise. Last financial year the government’s resurfacing spending was slashed from $200 million to just $37.6 million. My question relates to another serious, frankly negligent, gap. It seems unbelievable that we do not collect statistics on the number of serious and fatal accidents in which road conditions play a part. Surely understanding the extent to which road surfaces cause crashes is an essential prerequisite to allocating resources properly and cutting the death toll. Minister, when will you record, quantifiably, the impact of road conditions on serious and fatal accidents in Victoria?