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Victoria updates Road Safety Action Plan

Victoria has moved to the next phase of its multi-year road safety strategy with the introduction of a refreshed action plan that makes safer speeds a high priority.

Speed zoning policy and technical guidelines are to be updated, now with greater input from local government and communities affected, especially relating to active travel.

"Responding to keen interest from local governments and their communities, we’ll consider proposals for speed limit reductions in areas with significant interface between pedestrians and bicyclists and vehicles," the Road Safety Action Plan 2 states.

Speed continues to be a major factor in road crashes and is directly related to the severity of injuries suffered by bike riders and pedestrians.

The road safety strategy set a target in 2021 of halving deaths and reducing serious injuries by 2030.

A major focus of the new plan is the concerning increase in pedestrian and motorcycle deaths in recent years. Over the same period bike rider fatalities have remained steady.

During 2024 there were 66 motorcyclists and 47 pedestrians killed.

Vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists and e-scooter riders made up 45 per cent of all lives lost on Victorian roads in 2024.

Driver fatalities made up 45 per cent of all lives during 2024 – driver deaths totalled 126 last year, compared with 128 in 2023.

There were 133 lives lost on metropolitan roads, up from 123 in 2023. A total of 149 lives were lost on regional roads, down from 172 in 2023.

Police have identified that single acts of non-compliance or people making basic driving errors contributed to more than half of fatalities in 2024.

These are behaviours such as low-range speeding, lower-level drink driving, failing to obey road signs and distraction, such as using a mobile phone while driving.

According to police, extreme behaviours such as driving without a licence, travelling at extreme speeds, high-range drink driving, illicit drug driving or often a combination of these behaviours contributed to approximately a quarter of fatal collisions in 2024.

The action plan will focus on distracted driving that can result in a momentary lapse in concentration and end in a crash, including mobile phone, device or navigation tool, operating the radio, talking to someone on the phone or interacting with a passenger.

Another focus will be driving while impaired, which includes the deliberate choice to get behind the wheel while affected by alcohol and other drugs, and also driving while fatigued, which impacts a driver’s ability to concentrate and react to situations on the road.

You can view the plan here

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