On Monday 26 August 2024 Belinda Fenn and Roxanne Treloar of our office attended Wodonga Police Service Area Road Policing/Road Safety Community Forum in Beechworth organised by the Victorian Police.
Local representatives of the Victorian Police who service the Area 5 district of Victoria discussed fatalities and serious injuries on the roads in our local area.
We attended this event as we are locals in the community who use these roads on a regular basis both for work and as part of the community and have been impacted by road trauma.
Fatalities and serious injury on our local roads are at an all time high and the local representatives of the Victorian police discussed the top 5 causes for fatal collisions, these are:
1. Inappropriate speed for the conditions (such as rain or fog);
2. Unintentional driver error (such as failing to negotiate a turn or lack of proper observation);
3. Fatigue;
4. Exceeding the speed limit; and
5. Learner or inexperienced drivers.
The top 5 causes for serious injury on our roads include:
1. Learner or inexperienced driver;
2. Illness or disability;
3. Driver unintentional other (such as failing to negotiate a turn or lack or proper observation);
4. Failing to give way; and
5. Inappropriate speed for the conditions (such as rain or fog)
This event was a valuable reminder of our responsibilities and the duty of care we owe to other drivers on the roads as well pedestrians on the streets.
It also helped spread the word about the widespread and devastating impact of road accidents on our families, friends and community in general.
In Victoria, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is the relevant insurer for road accidents, a portion of Victorians registration fees is assigned to the TAC, a portion of these funds are used to pay for benefits and compensation to those injured or impacted by road accidents.
For those involved in a road accidents it is important to get the support that you need. We recommend getting in touch with one of our experienced personal injury lawyers to ensure you are aware of all of your rights. They can also help put you in contact with other supports available.
NLG works in partnership with the Amber Community, a not-for-profit organisation who is dedicated to enhancing road incident support and education for the safety and wellbeing of road users, including but not limited to free counselling services.
We thank Wodonga Police Service Area Road Policing for organising the forum and wish to acknowledge the very real impact of road accidents on our emergency services and thank those who try to protect us. Should you have the opportunity of attending one of the forums either as a community member, business owner who has staff that travel, a parent of an inexperienced driver, we highly recommend it.
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