Dear Editor,
Regional Victorians have been forgotten in the push towards zero road fatalities.
One fatality is one too many, whether on country roads or roads in Melbourne.
But new data shows country Victorians are being left behind in the push towards zero, with the regional road toll only falling about 20 per cent since 2000, while metro fatalities have dropped 47 per cent.
It’s not enough for the Government to talk up spending millions on road safety and improvements if it’s not making a genuine difference in the lives of all Victorians.
Labor’s plan to simply lower speed limits, while leaving country roads in a dangerous patchwork of potholes and crumbling roadsides, doesn’t address the worsening condition of too many kilometres of our regional road network.
One of the first things Daniel Andrews did when he was elected was to axe the Country Roads and Bridges Program, despite the real difference it was making in helping local councils upgrade our state’s most deadly roads.
Each life lost is another family torn apart and changed forever.
This year’s State Budget must include significant investment in improving the condition of the regional road network.
Country lives depend on it.
Peter Walsh
Leader of The Nationals