Wednesday, 26 August 2026

 Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:21): I rise today to speak on the TAC 2024–‍25 annual report. It is a critical report and something that all of us need to be cognisant of, especially when we talk about the human cost of road trauma across Victoria. In particular I want to talk about some of the aspects of road safety particularly highlighted by the Victoria Police road safety strategy.

On a point of order, President, I am getting some distraction from advisers behind Mrs Hermans. I am just not sure why –

Renee Heath interjected.

Sonja TERPSTRA: Okay. Well, I am just getting some distractions.

The PRESIDENT: Up there, or there?

Sonja TERPSTRA: Just there, behind Mrs Hermans.

Renee Heath: Those are the business owners that have been affected by the Big Build projects.

The PRESIDENT: Which ones? Behind where? Just there?

Sonja TERPSTRA: Yes.

The PRESIDENT: That is not part of the public gallery.

Sonja TERPSTRA: No. They need to go to the public gallery.

The PRESIDENT: Yes.

Renee Heath: On a point of order, President, we are happy to do that. But I feel a bit embarrassed that you are treating them like they have done something wrong.

Sonja TERPSTRA: Further to the point of order, President –

Renee Heath: I’m not having an argument, Ms Terpstra.

The PRESIDENT: No, I do not think we need to go to a further point of order.

Renee Heath: They’re not with me. They are business owners that have been impacted by you guys, so –

The PRESIDENT: I am very big on the public gallery being open for people to come in, but that is just weird, and I will find out why that happened.

Sonja TERPSTRA: I just want to respond to Dr Heath’s comment. I do not make the rules of this place; I am just asking that they be upheld. Thank you, President, for supporting that point.

Again, what I want to talk about tonight is extreme driver behaviour. Often it is this extreme driver behaviour that is captured in the media headlines. This report makes one stark truth abundantly clear: it is the persistence of everyday single acts of noncompliance that drives the majority of our fatal road collisions. The Victoria Police road safety strategy identifies seven key contributing factors that persistently undermine road safety, and they are speeding, distraction, impaired driving, seatbelt noncompliance, rural road risks, high-risk driving and unauthorised driving.

Let us look first at speed, the most prominent contributing factor in serious road trauma. Inappropriate or excessive speed destroys lives, yet across Victoria we have cultivated an alarming and unacceptable cultural tolerance towards low-level speeding. According to recent data, a staggering 64 per cent of surveyed drivers admit to intentionally speeding at 3 kilometres per hour or more over the limit. Furthermore, drivers are increasingly focusing blindly on posted speed limits rather than driving to the conditions of the road. We must remember that a posted limit is the absolute maximum speed permitted in perfect conditions, not a mandatory target in the rain, fog or heavy traffic.

Driver distraction is another escalating crisis on our roads, particularly through mobile phone usage. Drivers using a mobile phone to text, browse or email are 10 times more at risk of crashing. Despite this terrifying statistic, the Road Safety Monitor indicates that 51 per cent of drivers admit to using a mobile phone while driving. Between July and December 2023 alone our automated driver distraction and seatbelt cameras caught a staggering 30,321 drivers illegally using mobile devices. This is not just a minor infraction; it is a lethal gamble. Impaired driving, whether by alcohol, illicit or prescription drugs, medical incapacity or even fatigue, remains a persistent killer. It is deeply concerning that nearly half of Victorians – 48 per cent – will consider driving after consuming two or more alcoholic drinks. One in five drivers killed on our roads have a blood alcohol concentration of .05 or higher. Over the last five years 41 per cent of drivers and motorcyclists killed had drugs in their system. Compounding this, fatigue claims around 30 lives and leaves up to 200 people seriously injured every single year in Victoria.

Perhaps nothing is more tragic or entirely avoidable than death resulting from failure to wear a seatbelt. In 2023 Victoria Police recorded fatal collisions where unbelted occupants perished while others in the exact same vehicle who wore their seatbelts survived. Over the last five years 130 lives were lost simply because an occupant failed to buckle up. Despite this, the TAC Road Safety Monitor shows that over 2 per cent of drivers and 4 per cent of passengers still travel unbelted, and the perceived risk of police detection is sitting below 31 per cent. In just six months cameras detected nearly 16,000 drivers and over 6000 passengers failing to wear a seatbelt. This casual disregard for basic safety is costing lives.

We must also confront the acute dangers on our rural roads. Rural roads account for over half of all annual Victorian road deaths, yet only 24 per cent of our population live in rural areas. Approximately half of these rural deaths involve single-vehicle crashes, often magnified by vehicle age, with nearly a quarter of vehicles involved in fatal rural collisions in 2023 being over 20 years old, and compounded by speed, fatigue and distraction. I commend the report to the house.