Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) Infrastructure Committee has recommended that the Council endorse and adopt the ‘Toowoomba Region Road Safety Strategy 2019 – 2023’.
TRC Chair of the Infrastructure Committee and Deputy Mayor Cr Carol Taylor said the updated road safety strategy builds on the work of the previous strategic plan by delivering a further reduction of 12.5 percent in ‘all injury crashes’ across Council’s road network.
“Council’s 2011-2015 road safety strategic plan saw an overall reduction of 13 percent of ‘all injury crashes’ across Council’s road network with 12 blackspot projects completed with the support of the Federal Government,” Cr Taylor said.
“The 2019-2023 strategy will serve as an action plan that helps Council together with key stakeholders and the community to actively participate in road safety within the region.
“The updated strategy aligns with National and State Road Safety Strategies and aims to reduce the number of all injury crashes by 12.5 percent, reduce the number of fatalities by 30 percent and reduce the number of hospitalisations by 30 percent over the five-year life of the Strategy.
“With a network of more than 6,700 kilometres of sealed and unsealed roads, Council has recognised the need to embrace a more strategic approach towards road safety across the Region.
Cr Taylor said this strategic approach is in line with one of the key priorities from the 2019 Road Safety Week – ‘lead the way: drive to save lives’.
“The current crash statistics remain at an unacceptable level, and more needs to be done to improving the safe use of Council’s road network.
“Safer driving is something each one of us can focus on,” Cr Taylor said.
“While we can’t control what other motorists do on the road, what we can do is lead the way with our actions and take extra caution when we get behind the wheel.
“Remove all distractions and encourage others to do the same. If we can all take more responsibility and share road safety messages we can instil better driving habits throughout our community.”
Each year, around 1200 people are killed and another 35,000 are seriously injured in crashes on Australian roads.
“The loss of one life is unacceptable so it’s vital we make our roads safer,” Cr Taylor said.
