Tuesday, 15 October 2019

In reply to  Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (29 August 2019)

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating):

We know that there are often many contributory factors for any given crash, and there is no one solution to road trauma. That’s why the Victorian Government has a multifaceted, whole of system approach to road safety through our $1.7 billion Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan.

Towards Zero aims to improve road safety by way of the Safe System, which is built on key investments and initiatives across the pillars of Safe Roads, Safe People, Safe Speeds and Safe Vehicles. The Safe System approach to road safety underpins road safety strategies elsewhere in Australia and around the world.

The Victorian Government is proactive in its approach to addressing issues like fatigue on our roads, with the TAC engaging the Victorian community via dedicated mass media and social media campaigns such as the ‘You can’t fight sleep’ campaigns, and direct engagement activities such as ‘Driver Reviver’ sites on high volume long weekends. The TAC reminds all Victorians to plan ahead and make safe choices when driving longer distances, such as taking regular breaks.

Through the Towards Zero Community Grants program, the Department of Transport is also focusing specifically on driver fatigue and distraction, to empower local communities to establish innovative ways of reducing the burden of drowsy and distracted driving in their local area.

Fatigue as a casual factor in crashes is difficult to determine and is recorded based on police member opinion. Fatigue is suspected to be a primary cause in approximately 20 per cent of road fatalities. This estimate is based on subjective Victoria Police Member Opinion of Cause data, descriptions of crashes, and the number of fatalities potentially involved fatigue as a contributory factor. Please note, when talking about contributory factors, these subjective flags refer to an operator involved in the crash and do not necessarily represent the actions of the deceased.

In relation to individual accident statistics and locations such as ‘black spots’, please refer these questions to the Minister for Police, as Victoria Police are better placed to respond.