Lismore wins road safety award

AN INNOVATIVE road safety project by Lismore City Council has achieved recognition at the 2012 National Awards for Local Government last week.

Lismore City Council’s road safety officer, Lisa Marshall, with Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese, and Freda Crucitti, a member of the National Road Safety Council, at last Tuesday’s award ceremony. . Picture: Eddie Misic

AN INNOVATIVE road safety project by Lismore City Council has achieved recognition at the 2012 National Awards for Local Government last week.

The council picked up the Excellence in Road Safety Award from the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese, for its acclaimed Drive to Conditions Project.

The council's road safety officer, Lisa Marshall, attended the awards presentation at Parliament House in Canberra last Tuesday night and said it was very special to be recognised on a national scale for the work the council does.

"I was so overwhelmed when I went to the awards … they were just huge, I had no idea," she said.

"When Lismore City Council was announced as the road safety category winner it was like 'Wow, really?!'"

The Drive to Conditions Project addressed major crash problems on the local road network through a range of measures including complementary enforcement and education initiatives, road improvements and removal of roadside hazards.

Lisa said this was the second award the council has received for the project and believes it's because it was based on the Safe Systems Strategy 2011-2020 which was recently released nationally.

"We've based it on the principles of that strategy so it has a strong foundation, (plus) the fact we used the key elements of the strategy in a project just months after it was released shows we're on top of our game," she said.

"Other councils are already asking about it and trying to adopt it, and I think that's the other thing the judges would have liked - its transferability, plus it's all encompassing in its approach.

"Whilst the underlying goal of the project is to reduce speeds, it looks at all issues related to speed - not just behavioural change but how to improve the road environment and the safety of vehicles. So it really looks at the bigger picture."
The Department of Infrastructure and Transport supported the Excellence in Road Safety category award, which was sponsored by the National Road Safety Council.

Photo caption: Lismore City Council's Road Safety Officer Lisa Marshall with Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese and Freda Crucitti, a member of the National Road Safety Council, at Tuesday's award ceremony. High resolution image available on request.
 

Originally published as Lismore wins road safety award